Medicina evolucionaria una ciencia básica emergente / Evolutionary medicine: an emergent basic science
Rev. méd. Chile
;
133(2): 231-240, feb. 2005. ilus, tab
Article
in Spanish
| LILACS, MINSALCHILE
| ID: lil-398058
ABSTRACT
Evolutionary Medicine is an emergent basic science that offers new and varied perspectives to the comprehension of human health. The application of classic evolutionary theories (descent with modification, and natural selection) to the human organism, to its pathogens, and their mutual co-evolution, provides new explanations about why we get sick, how we can prevent this, and how we can heal. Medicine has focused mainly on the proximate or immediate causes of diseases and the treatment of symptoms, and very little on its evolutionary or mediate causes. For instance, the present human genome and phenotypes are essentially paleolithic ones they are not adapted to modern life style, thus favoring the so-called diseases of civilization (ie ateroesclerosis, senescence, myopia, phobias, panic attacks, stress, reproductive cancers). With the evolutionary approach, post-modern medicine is detecting better the vulnerabilities, restrictions, biases, adaptations and maladaptations of human body, its actual diseases, and its preventions.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Science
/
Biological Evolution
/
Medicine
Limits:
Humans
Language:
Spanish
Journal:
Rev. méd. Chile
Year:
2005
Type:
Article
/
Project document
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidad de Chile/CL
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