Evolving Health

Human illnesses can be understood as damage to those adaptations that we took on at various stages in our evolution from pre-life molecules to modern Homo sapiens. Preventing these illnesses entails avoiding what causes the damage — which too frequently are the everyday hazards of twenty-first-century life, as the chart below shows:Level of Evolution / Cause of adaptive failure / resulting disease or problemPre-life / Environmental poisons / Certain birth defectsSingle cell (bacteria and amoeba-like) / Viral infection / Colds/flu/HIVMorula (sponge-like) / Cellular stress / CancerChordate / Physical stress / Back painFish / Excess dietary salt / Hypertension/heart diseaseAmphibian / Tobacco smoke / Lung cancer/emphysemaLower primate / Excess dietary sugar / Diabetes mellitusHigher primate / Vitamin C deficiency / ScurvyApe / Excess dietary protein / GoutHomo sapiens / Reduced dietary variety / Nutritionaldiseases/food allergies