Evolution and Origin of Diseases: Darwinian Medicine - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Darwin medicine is a continuation of Darwin theory of evolution, which explained how organisms adapted to the environment to ensure their survival (Nesse & George 36). The study on diseases evolution is a continuation of the Darwin evolution of adaptation in which organisms had to adapt to the environment to ensure their survival. Likewise, an understanding of evolution of causes of diseases ensures effective understanding of the necessary treatment. Darwin’s medicine argues that antibiotics evolve to resist the effectiveness of already existing treatments to the diseases. This therefore necessitates an understanding of Darwin’s medicine in the study of medicine and health. Failure by physicians to understand evolutionary medicine causes some diseases deadly (Nesse &George 38). Approaching treatment from an understanding of evolutionary biology minimizes the impact of the deadly losses.
Because the pathogens that cause diseases evolve, there is need to continually conduct research to discover the new treatment in that circumstances. The evolution of these pathogens makes there antibiotics ineffective and cannot be use as a cure (Nesse & George 39). Since microorganisms become resistant to treatment and gets riskier because of improper management, accompanied with the idea that most diseases are caused by unrecognized pathogens, medics need to have a clear grip and understanding of evolutionary biology....
Central to the study of evolutionary medicine is the need to determine the impact of the diseases and traits on reproduction (Nesse & George 41). Evolutionary explanations can be categorized into evolved defenses, novel environments, conflicts with other organisms, tradeoffs and design flaws. Evolved defenses are the body ailments that evolve and are brought about by natural selection. The physiological mechanisms associated with the unpleasant experiences will make the body develop its own self-defense (Nesse & George 42). The evolve defenses that causes pain and therefore steers one away from activities that are dangerous to the body. Conflicts with other organisms are also important in the understanding of Darwin’s medicine. There are some organisms whose interaction with do not consider our interests. These are referred to as pathogens and even if our bodies evolve defenses against them, it cannot provide 100% protection against all. This is attributed to the fact that pathogens have their own evolution, which is much faster than those of our bodies are. Bacteria with genes that ensure their prosperous despite antibiotics spread rapidly and render the administration of these antibiotics ineffectual. These are perfect examples of natural selection of our bodies. In addition, coping with novelty assist in explaining most ailments that face threat to human health. It asserts that all adaptations are because of changes in the environment i.e. what is harmful in one environment may be beneficial in another environment. Anthropologists contend that threats to human health have changes significantly (Nesse & George 42). In the past for instance, accidents, predation, infectious diseases, and starvation were the major causes of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More