Principles of Evolutionary Medicine / Edition 2

by Peter Gluckman, Alan Beedle, Tatjana Buklijas, Felicia Low, Mark Hanson

Overview

Evolutionary science is critical to an understanding of integrated human biology and is increasingly recognized as a core underpinning discipline by medical and public health professionals. Advances in the fields of genomics, epigenetics, developmental biology and epidemiology have led to the growing realization that incorporating evolutionary thinking is essential for medicine to achieve its full potential. This is the first integrated and comprehensive textbook to explain the principles of evolutionary biology from a medical perspective and to focus on how medicine and public health might utilize evolutionary biology. It is written in a style which is accessible to a broad range of readers, whether or not they have had formal exposure to evolutionary science.

Principles of Evolutionary Medicine is divided into three sections: the first provides a systematic approach to the principles of evolutionary biology as they apply to human health and disease, using examples specifically relevant to medicine. It incorporates chapters on evolutionary processes, molecular evolution, the evolution of humans, life history theory, and evolutionary-developmental biology. The second part illustrates the application of these principles to our understanding of nutrition and metabolism, reproduction, combatting infectious disease and stress, and human behaviour. The final section provides a general framework to show in practical terms how the principles of evolutionary medicine can be applied in medical practice and public health.

This novel textbook provides the necessary toolkit for doctors and other health professionals, medical students and biomedical scientists, as well as anthropologists interested in human health, to gain a better understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying human health and disease.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199663927
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/17/2016
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Professor Peter D. Gluckman FRS is a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Biology, Director of the Liggins Institute for Medical Research and Director of the National Research Centre for Growth and Development of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research encompasses paediatric endocrinology, the developmental origins of health and disease, the evolutionary-developmental biology interface, and evolutionary medicine. He has published over 400 refereed papers, 150 reviews and edited several books and is inventor on over 25 families of patents. He has received New Zealand's highest scientific honour, the Rutherford Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2001, and is a foreign member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK.

Professor Mark Hanson is BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Science and Director of the Institute of Developmental Sciences and the DOHaD Division at the University of Southampton School of Medicine. He is current President of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. He has worked in developmental physiology and its applications to medicine for about 25 years. He has taught a range of undergraduate medical courses and supervised many postgraduate students, both basic and clinical scientists, and established collaborations with clinical colleagues across a range of disciplines. His current research interests extend from developmental epigenetics to epidemiology, public health and evolutionary biology. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, authored or edited 9 books, two with Peter Gluckman aimed at a general scientific audience. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstericians and Gynaecologists for services to developmental physiology.

Dr. Alan S. Beedle is Research Fellow at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland. He is a biochemist who became a professional science editor and writer. He has held senior positions in scientific and medical publishing in the UK, Europe and New Zealand, and has been editor of several high-impact journals in the biomedical sciences. Alan advises members of the Institute on publication strategy, and also has research interests in the application of evolutionary and developmental biology to human health and disease.

Books by the Same Authors:
Mismatch: The Lifestyle Diseases Timebomb
Mismatch: Why Our World No Longer Fits Our Bodies

Table of Contents

PART 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY1. Introduction2. Evolutionary theory3. The molecular basis of variation and inheritance4. Evolution and development5. The human life history6. The molecular basis of variation and inheritancePART 2: EVOLUTION IN HEALTH AND DISEASE7. An evolutionary framework for understanding human health and disease8. Reproduction9. Nutritional and metabolic adaptation10. Coevolution, infection, and immunity11. Psychology and behaviour12. Cancer13. Evolutionary principles applied to medical practice and public health14. Evolution, medicine, and society

Editorial Reviews

"How often has anyone said after reading a textbook, "Wow, what a great read!"? That is what I just did. Peter Gluckman, along with Alan Beedle and Mark Hanson, have written a wonderful introduction to the principles of evolutionary biology and defined ways in which these principles can be applied to understanding human disease."—JAMA

"Principles of Evolutionary Medicine is the first specifically designed as a textbook appropriate for medical students and medical schools, and it succeeds brilliantly."—Science

"Clearly written and well presented...this book will be of great value and is strongly recommended for medical training as well as for a more general audience. It is my hope that it will contribute to a greater interest in evolutionary biology among medical students and improve interdisciplinary awareness." — Nicole Bender, Institute of Social & Preventative Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland, for The Quarterly Review of Biology

From the Publisher