Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince
Amazon Price: $11.16
List Price: $13.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Harper Perennial
Amazon Marketplace: 74
new & used starting at $1.96
|
Buy at Amazon.com
|
Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Medicine -> Basic Science -> Genetics
Subjects -> Medicine -> Diseases -> General
Subjects -> Medicine -> Diseases -> General AAS
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
The Power of Evolution 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
The only complaint I have about this book is that the cover refers to Dr. Moalem as a "medical maverick." I don't see the assertions Dr. Moalem makes here as being particularly controversial (at least, for anyone who accepts the basics of the theory of evolution). The fact that diseases are evolutionary pressures on the development of the human species seems very straightforward. Granted, how Dr. Moalem interprets some of these pressures may be subject to debate; however, the basic premise is sound.
In fact, for anyone interested in the contemplation of the development of humans, this is a wonderful book. It's the kind of book that reads so well that, afterwards, you feel like you should have realized what she's been telling you all along. For example, the idea that our bodies have adapted to various diseases seems obvious. What should be obvious but isn't necessarily is the idea that some of these adaptations which served us well for millennia have become liabilities in the twenty-first century.
Take hemochromatosis. It is a surprisingly common genetic disease among people of Western European decent--one in three carry at least one copy of the gene--that causes an abnormally high level of iron in the body. Unchecked, it can lead to severe illness and death. But we also know that hemochromatic macrophages have an advantage in the fight against bacterial invasion. Is it possible that people with hemochromatosis had an advantage in surviving the plague in the 13th century, which is why this gene is common now? Dr. Moalem makes a good case.
And what about diabetes? Most common in cultures that descend from regions of cold climate. Why? Because driving up sugar levels is a natural response to cold. It forces dehydration, and digesting sugar generates heat, both advantages in the cold. It may be a leftover from our ancestors who survived the last ice age, when bodies were forced to use the limited food supplies to best advantage. Now that we live longer and eat more, high sugar levels have become dangerous.
And consider diseases like malaria and the common cold. Why does malaria make us so sick we end up in bed whereas most of us can stay ambulatory with a cold? How about because it gives a transmission advantage to each disease. Malaria wants us still so more mosquitos can get at us. A cold wants us out and about to pass the germs on to others ourselves. Evolution is an amazing thing.
But I think my favorite example Dr. Moalem gives is her speculation against the "savanna hypothesis." This hypothesis says that our ape ancestors moved from all fours to walking on two legs as a response to the new struggles to get food as they moved from the forests to the savannas. The weakness in this theory, however, is that it is very male oriented as males were the primary hunters. Evolution has to impact across gender. Moalem is a supporter of the "aquatic ape" hypothesis, which says that our distant ancestors spent much of their time in and around water. It explains much: why we became bipedal, why we lost fur, why our nostrils face down, why fat is attached to our skin and why babies are born the way they are (leading to much more difficult childbirth for we earth-bound humans).
All in all, I find this to be a very compelling book. Certainly there is room for debate with Dr. Moalem's conclusions but her ideas are interesting and her arguments are strong. It forces one to consider seriously the power of evolution to impact our lives. I, for one, think this is a great book.
Editorial Review:
Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth. Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history, Dr. Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there. It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health, and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer, healthier lives.
