Chapter 1: The Ecology of Heath and Disease Medical Anthropology Adaptation Evolutionary Medicine Ecology of Health

Medical Anthropology Four Fields –Biological –Archaeological –Linguistics –Cultural Holistic? Multidisciplinary?

Adaptation Two meanings –Biological: An adaptation is an innate physiological or behavioral structure designed by natural selection to solve/cope with an evolutionarily stable problem. –Adaptive response: Biological accommodation to a change in environmental conditions Learned behavioral/cultural response to environmental conditions

Adaptation by Natural Selection What is an Adaptation? Structures that are designed by Natural Selection Adaptations provide solutions to evolutionary problems (survival and reproduction). Evolutionarily Stable Problems. Best thought of in terms of function.

Evolutionary Medicine Why we get sick Uses the Adaptive program –Fever –Anemia and Bacteria –Adaptive mismatch Diabetes and the Papago (Thrifty Gene Hypothesis) Depression and Serotonin Post Partum Depression?

Example: Parent-Offspring Conflict –Child and parent are related by.5, therefore they will not always agree on what is the best strategy. –Each offspring is related to each other by.5 –Related to themselves by 1 –Each child will demand more than –parent is willing to give –Sibling rivalry –Parents will try to distribute resources more evenly or by need

Parent-Offspring conflict before birth Preeclampsia: –Fetus will introduce hormones into to the mother to increase blood flow to itself so that it grows faster and bigger –Open up arteries to the placenta –Restrict arteries in the rest of the mother’s body –Leads to high blood pressure in the mother with lower pressure in the fetus and therefore a greater supply of blood to the baby –Mother attempts to limit blood flow to safeguard her own health to the point that the fetus is viable but not much more than this –Women with preeclampsia have health problems but give birth to bigger fatter babies.

Gestational diabetes –Fetus introduces hormones into the mother to increases the sugar content in the blood in order to increase its nutrition –Mother has to process more sugar than normally and sometimes her blood has more sugar than is health for her and higher blood pressure –Babies are big and fat.

Gestational anemia: –Iron is food for bacteria –Iron is necessary for blood clotting –Mother iron level is set to balance risk of bacterial infections against risk of blood loss –Fetus wants iron levels to minimize bacterial infections but does not incur a cost due to blood loss –Mother’s blood does not clot as well and is more prone to blood loss during birth and from injuries. –Fetus is less prone to bacterial infections

Assignment 1 Go to Explore the website Write a short essay (one page) on something that you learned. Bring your essay to class next week