Final Exam: Chapter 18 Evolutionary Medicine Flashcards
What is myopia?
Nearsightedness
What are the possible causes of breast cancer?
? Environmental mutations of oncogenes; more likely in tissues that routinely undergo cell division such as skin, colon, lung, breast, prostate, and bone marrow cells because the tissues require some degree of continuous cell division to function. Increased rates of cell proliferation bring with them greater vulnerability to mutagenic effects of environmental toxins or radiation.
How might menstrual cycles influence breast cancer?
? Tissues require some degree of continuous cell division to function; increased rates of cell proliferation bring with them greater vulnerability to mutagenic effects
What does it mean to treat a symptom but not an adaptation (within reason)?
Adaptations such as vomiting, sneezing, diarrhea, coughing, morning sickness, anemia, & fever is our bodies way of getting rid of whatever is bad - ex. morning sickness - bodies way of protecting embryo, anemia - could be anemic b/c body is keeping iron stored so bacteria cant use it to grow.
What is the possible adaptation of fever and other non-human animals?
Raise temp in order to kill off bacteria/viruses; non human animals such as a lizard will go sit in the sun in order to raise body temp because they cannot have a fever
What is the relationship between fever and chicken pox and fever and the common cold?
??? high temp when you have the chicken pox
What is the relationship between fever and sepsis?
? - no idea … help :(
What is the relationship between parenthood (step vs biological), childrens health and child abuse?
Fathers interact more with their genetic offspring than their step-children. Fathers are more punishing (agonistic) towards step children than genetic off spring.\
Study done in Trinidad by Mark Flinn
What are the biological explanations for observed differences in the relationship between step vs biological parents and childrens health and child abuse?
Genes are not being passed on
What is combination drug therapy?
The use of multiple drugs to treat an illness in an effort to reduce drug resistance since a pathogen or tumor is less likely to have resistance to multiple drugs simultaneously
What is viral reassortment?
Occurs when genetic material from different strains gets mixed into new combinations within a single individual
What is host shifting?
When pathogens make the leap from one host species to another (ex. bird flu to human flu)
What is the evolutionary history of the SARS virus?
Closely related to pathogens called coronaviruses; closely related virus in cat-like mammals called palm civets (sold in china for meat); but the MAIN host for the viruses come from a large evolutionary tree of coronaviruses that infect chinese bats. bats–>other animals–>humans
What is particularly interesting about the polio vaccine?
Scientists mix viruses with the cells of monkeys or chimpanzees; viruses mutate and selection favors the strains best adapted to nonhuman hosts; while at the same time become less suited to infecting humans-once weak enough they can be injected into humans to get a strong immune response w/o making people sick
What are proto-oncogenes?
Ensure that cells divide only when they need to and stop dividing when they shouldn’t; they are normal genes which, when altered by mutation, becomes an oncogene that can contribute to cancer.
What are oncogenes?
Mutated versions of proto-oncogenes; increased expression can lead to cancer
What is the hygiene hypothesis?
A hypothesis the proposes that a lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (e.g., gut flora or probiotics), and parasites increases a person’s susceptibility to allergic and autoimmune diseases
What is the thrifty genotype hypothesis?
A hypothesis that proposes that alleles that were advantageous in the past (e.g. because they were “thrifty” and stored nutrients well) may have become detrimental in the modern world, contributing to metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes
What is the thrifty phenotype hypothesis?
A hypothesis that proposes that the conditions a fetus experiences during pregnancy can affect physiology throughout an individual’s life. Type 2 diabetes may be the result of a “starvation physiology” resulting from exposure to nutrient-poor conditions during development coupled with a “westernized” lifestyle that is nutrient rich and low in exercise.
What is the thrifty epigenotype hypothesis?
A hypothesis that proposes that epigenetic mechanisms are responsible for coupling fetal nutritional conditions with the establishment of a particular physiology (e.g., a “starvation physiology”) that persists for life and can be at least partially inherited by offspring
What are the four primary questions asked by researchers in evolutionary medicine?
Be able to recognize these questions
- ) How does our evolutionary legacy influence present day health problems?
- ) How do medications shape the evolution of pathogen resistance?
- ) Are our conditions symptoms or adaptations?
- ) How do the ecological phenomena of corridors and barriers shape evolution of virulence?
Why are humans so freaking lazy (explained from an evolutionary point of view)?
Our ancestors struggled to find enough food each day, their calories were precious and hard to come by. They would eat brains for fat and cholesterol and long bones (bone marrow). We don’t have to worry about saving energy as much now.
What are autoimmune diseases?
Immune system attacks itself. (It gets bored when it has nothing to do)
