Lecture 14 Flashcards
Social Determinants of Health
Economic Stability, Neighborhood and Physical Environment, Education, Food, Community and Social Context, Healthcare System
Health Outcomes: Mortality, morbidity, Life expectancy, health care expenditures, health status, functional limitations
Intergenerational Inheritance of Health Model
An approach to studying health that focuses on how prenatal and infant exposures to environmental conditions can influence disease risk in adulthood
(Check camera roll for health model)
What is biological adaptation?
Process of change in
physiology or morphology resulting from an altered environment
- improves evolutionary fitness (survival and reproduction)
*process depends on degree and timing of exposure
Ex:
* If a person moves to a higher altitude, their body might adjust by producing more red blood cells to carry oxygen better in lower-oxygen areas.
* Animals might grow thicker fur in colder climates.
The International Biological Program and the Human Adaptability Project
Large scale international
collaboration to
study the ecology of
many different
ecosystems and
how humans fit
within them
Timescales of Adaptation Model
Model of how long it takes for an organism to change in response to its environment
Look at camera roll third picture
Mode of Adaptation: Allostasis
Timescale of Input: Second/Hours
- Allostasis: the regulation of internal biology through rapid changes in physiology
So, more specifically, the inside of our body
Acclimatization
Timescale of Input: Days/Months/Seasons
Physiological changes that occur over the
course of days to weeks that work to maintain biological functions in response to a new environmental condition
Developmental Adaptation
Timescale of Input: Years
Changes in physiology or morphology that
occur during development in response to environmental conditions that result
in an improvement in fitness
Genetic Adaptation
Timescale of Input: Decades and Centuries
Adaptations to environmental conditions
that arise through natural selection and are heritable via the genetic code
Human Energy Allocation Model
All biological processes require energy, and so biological variation is shaped by differences in energy allocation
In the Human Energy Allocation Model, Maintenance is
Basal Metabolism, Dietary Thermogenesis, Thermoregulation, Immune Activity, Physical Activity
In the Human Energy Allocation Model, Production is
Growth and Maturation Reproduction
Allocation Rule
In most organisms, the energy budget is finite, and thus must be allocated across competing biological functions
Metabolic health
A person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and/or onset (type ii) diabetes
*poor metabolic health is characterized by hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, subclinical inflammation, obesity
Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue (SAT)
Distributed on hips, thighs and
buttocks
• Produces fewer molecules that
stimulate inflammation
Visceral Adipose Tissue
• Located closer to important organs
• Produces more inflammatory molecules
Dietary Adequacy
• Extent to which food intake fulfills one’s nutritional
requirements
• Intake vs. requirement
• Macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fats
• Micronutrients: vitamins and minerals
Hunter Gatherers
*have low rates of chronic diseases.
*composed of a mix of meat, fish and plants
*active lifestyle, restricted dietary diversity
Food Security
Access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a
healthy and active life (WHO, 1996)
• Generally, at household or community level
Physical Nutritional Status
Biological indices of nutritional health/balance measured from a person’s body (measurable signs you can measure)
• Anthropometry (e.g., height, weight, body composition)
• Biochemical (e.g., Hb, lipids, serum vitamins
Dual Burden of Disease
Combination of Under and or over nutrition and can exist at multiple levels (population/community, household, individual.
Dual Burden of Disease also includes a community disabling with chronic illnesses as well as infectious diseases
