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Essay On Survival Of The Sickest

645 Words3 Pages

The novel Survival of the Sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem did a great job of exploring and explaining the history of the evolution of modern genetic diseases. The author research and explain the underlying evolutionary mechanisms of past human genetic history and adaptations that support why modern humans still have these heritable genetic diseases. There are many factors that play the role of how an individual or a population inherited a certain genetic disease. Some of these factors are relatively new and intriguing as scientists and biologists alike are continuing to learn more about the unknowns of the vast field of genetics. Factors that affect the inheritance as well as the prevalence of the mechanisms of the genetic diseases include hazardous chemical environmental factors, gene regulation …show more content…

The body is unable to recognize that the body has a sufficient amount of iron so the body continues to absorb iron from the food we as humans eat until it severely damages our body organs causing an imbalance in body chemistry which could ultimately lead to death if the hemochromatosis goes unchecked without any treatment. Iron is essential to the human’s survival but too much iron is proven to be deadly. Symptoms of Hemochromatosis includes having weak bone joints, fatigue, and general weakness. The Lymph nodes also swell up as the iron supply is heavily distributed in our bloodstream and our body. Iron levels are extremely high in all areas of the body except for the Macrophages. The Macrophages are cells that fight for us in the immune system to protect against foreign invaders. Since Macrophages need iron to function, it cannot effectively protect our body from certain bacteria and maintain certain internal problems. The progression of Hemochromatosis if left unnoticed or untreated could lead to many other health problems such as heart problems, liver diseases, diabetes, or even

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Summary Of Inheritance By Dr. Moalem Sparknotes

578 Words | 3 Pages

Inheritance by Dr. Sharon Moalem is an exceptional book. Dr. Moalem’s goal for writing this book is to convey a new idea of genetics and inheritance to the reader. In middle school and high school we were taught that our genetics comes from our parents and that they are fixed throughout our lifetime, but Dr. Sharon Moalem brings the idea that the environment may alter them. He states that the food we eat and the trauma we endure during life can imprint onto our genes. Dr. Moalem works with rare genetic disorders where he accumulates his knowledge from research to help treat his patients with changing some environmental factors in their lives.

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Survival Of The Sickest Chapter 1 Summary

1455 Words | 6 Pages

Dr. Moalem’s unique view on disease and humanity’s complex relationship with it inspired many questions in the mind of the reader. He theorizes that diseases passed on genetically remained in the gene pool because they may have provided advantages to our ancestors, and this theory casts a new light and creates a new perspective on such diseases. The diseases discussed in the book, such as hemochromatosis, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia, would ordinarily be considered harmful. However, the author explains that under different circumstance, these illnesses might have been viewed as beneficial instead, and that these benefits are worth

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919 Words | 4 Pages

Thrombocytopenia is a condition in which the body does not have a normal number of platelets in the blood. Blood is made up of three major cell types: red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body; white blood cells, which help fight infection; and, platelets, which stick together at the site of a cut or wound to form a clot to stop the bleeding. People who have thrombocytopenia don’t have enough platelets to form a blood clot, and so they may bleed excessively when they are cut. (nhlbi.nih.gov, 2013) Blood cells and platelets are made in the bone marrow, which is the spongy tissue inside the bones.

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945 Words | 4 Pages

With that being said extreme excess of these foods can cause iron toxicity which can leave to injury to your liver, shock, blood in your bowel, and acidosis. Foods such as enriched cereals also contain a good amount of iron so excess of cereal can also cause these issues. Many people most develop severe iron toxicity due to iron supplements rather than excess of iron enriched

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Survival Of The Sickest Summary

610 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout Survival of the sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem, a scientific story telling form of writing takes place. Dr. Moalem puts well thought out scientific phenomenons supported by a history of evolutionary evidence that we see in our world today. Perhaps its largely due to his background studies in the emerging fields of neurogenetics and evolutionary medicine. Dr.Moalem has a very distinct way of attracting his readers to change the fundamental understanding and development of diseases, he also has this uniqueness in keeping us curious and excited to know more about a particular topic. a selection what he discusses in Survival of the sickest is the importance of iron in our bodies, he began with a case study presenting an individual with a mysterious symptoms that attract the reader’s attention, then

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1736 Words | 7 Pages

Iron carries oxygen from our lungs through the bloodstream and releases it in the body where it’s needed. Iron is built into the enzymes that do most of the chemical heavy lifting in our bodies, where it helps us to detoxify poisons and to convert sugars into energy.” Despite being a vital mineral, too much of anything can be detrimental for the human body; therefore, introducing

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1339 Words | 6 Pages

To begin, the author discusses hemochromatosis, a disease that causes an excess of iron in a person’s body. It, in particular, targets the heart and the liver. Dr. Moalem uses the example of Aran Gordon to display the glaring symptoms of this illness, including an erratic heart beat, arthritis, and diabetes. The virus was first detailed in 1865 by a man named of Armand Trousseau before the distinct gene was isolated in a university in 1996. It is not specified how large the spread of hemochromatosis was during this time.

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Survival of the Sickest is an intriguing novel that explores why we need disease. Moalem asks and answers many questions throughout this book centering on the concept of evolution. His main objective in this book was to explain why natural selection designated certain diseases that are harmful to humans now. Throughout his questioning, he shows us that the reason so many diseases are still around today is because at some point in history, all of them helped our ancestors to survive and reproduce in their environment. Each chapter in his book focuses on a different aspect of his overall conclusion that modern diseases were beneficial in the past.

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