Health Archives

Why Depression Is on the Rise: Darwinian Reasoning

Why is depression on the rise? What does depression have to do with evolution and social standings? According to Darwinian Medicine, depression has functions in social standing. Low serotonin levels help mediate hierarchies in a social structure and maintain peace. However, today’s society is much different than the Stone Ages and depression is on the rise. Continue reading for more information on why depression is on the rise, according to evolutionary scientists.

What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural & Unnatural Links

What causes cancer cells? Why has the rate of cancer increased in the past century? How is mensuration linked to cancer? What causes cancer cells is that with each division of a cell, mutations in genes are introduced. Cancer can be considered a noncommunicable parasite that appropriates resources for its own gain at the expense of the host. Keep reading for more information about why people get cancer.

Michelle Obama: Pregnancy and Fertility Challenges

How did Michelle Obama struggle with pregnancy? How did the Obama family affect Barack’s political reputation? Michelle Obama always dreamed of being a mother but when the time came, she struggled to get pregnant. After trying many different methods, she finally became pregnant thanks to IVF. But it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. The Obama’s new family impacted both of their careers. Continue on to learn about Michelle Obama’s pregnancy and the effects it had on her life.

Why Do We Have Allergies? Evolution Can Explain

Why do we have allergies? Why haven’t humans evolved past them? Why are allergies becoming more common than ever before? The lack of parasites, the decrease in breastfeeding, and the increase in urban pollutants are all factors that lead to allergies. Why we have allergies is unclear but scientists have developed many theories as to why allergies exist. Keep reading to learn more about why we have allergies.

Why We Get Sick: Darwinian Medicine Explained

Why hasn’t natural selection, over millions of years, prevented us from getting cancer, heart disease, and depression? Why do our bodies deteriorate with age? How can Darwinian Medicine help us understand diseases better? In the book Why We Get Sick, Randolph Nesse and George Williams explain that “natural selection” means that evolution prioritizes reproductive fitness above all else and that evolution doesn’t bother eliminating diseases that affect us later in life. They also discuss reproductive health and aging as they relate to Darwinian Medicine. Keep reading to learn more about the evolutionary science behind why we get sick.

How Do Parasites Work if They Damage Their Host?

How do parasites work? Why do they damage their hosts? Wouldn’t it benefit the parasite to keep its host nourished and healthy? The authors of Why We Get Sick explore the science behind how parasites work. They argue that parasites are competitive and that they must fight each other for resources. They also claim that parasites and hosts have reached an equilibrium. Keep reading to learn why parasites don’t help us.

Why Do We Get Sick? Our Bodies Make Compromises

Why hasn’t evolution prevented sickness and disease? How can Darwinian medicine explain why we get sick? The reason we still get sickness and disease despite evolution is that the body must make careful compromises. Sometimes, the thing that causes a disease is or was helpful to us at some point in time. Continue reading to learn why we get sick despite evolutionary advances.

Bad Evolutionary Designs That Cause Problems

Why do humans share one input for both breathing and eating? Why do we still have an appendix? And why are our retinas inside out? The answer to all these questions is simple: bad evolutionary designs. Over time, evolution makes slow changes to our bodies, but it does not erase the old designs, leaving us with bad or useless traits. Keep reading to learn more about human evolutionary legacies.

The Evolutionary Benefits of Fear and Pain: Survival

Why and how do we learn fear? What is the difference between innate and learned fear? Pain and fear are vital functions for survival. Innate fears are the ones we are born with and learned fears are flexible and are taught to us by others or by experience. Keep reading for more about the benefits of fear and pain.

The Human Aging Process: Why and How We Age

Why do humans age at the rate we do? What evolutionary factors play a role in the human aging process? Human aging is an unavoidable part of life. Over time, organ systems wear out and we become more susceptible to disease and injury. Find out why this process occurs and how it came to be this way through evolution. Continue reading to learn about human aging.