Evolutionary public health: introducing the concept

The Lancet

Volumn 390, Issue 10093, 2017, Pages 500-509

  Wells, Jonathan C K ^a   Nesse, Randolph M ^b   Sear, Rebecca ^c   Johnstone, Rufus A ^d   Stearns, Stephen C ^e  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^e YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HORMONE;

EVOLUTION; EVOLUTIONARY PUBLIC HEALTH; GENETICS; GLOBAL HEALTH; HERITABILITY; HUMAN; LIFE EXPECTANCY; LIFE HISTORY; MATHEMATICAL MODEL; MORTALITY RISK; NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY; PATHOGEN LOAD; PLASTICITY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PUBLIC HEALTH; REVIEW; BIOLOGICAL MODEL; GENETIC PREDISPOSITION; GENOTYPE ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION; PHYSIOLOGY; TRENDS;

BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION; GENE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION; GENETIC PREDISPOSITION TO DISEASE; HORMONES; HUMANS; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; PUBLIC HEALTH;

EID: 85022133492     PISSN: 01406736     EISSN: 1474547X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30572-X     Document Type: Review

References (99)

1. Winslow, C, The untilled field of public health. Mod Med 2 (1920), 183–191.
2. Gibson, MA, Mace, R, An energy-saving development initiative increases birth rate and childhood malnutrition in rural Ethiopia. PLoS Med, 3, 2006, e87.
3. Kuh, D, Ben-Shlomo, Y, A life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology, 2nd edn., 2004, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
4. Barker, DJ, Fetal and infant origins of adult disease, 1992, BMJ, London.
5. Krieger, N, Davey Smith, G, “Bodies count,” and body counts: social epidemiology and embodying inequality. Epidemiol Rev 26 (2004), 92–103.
6. Marmot, M, Social determinants of health inequalities. Lancet 365 (2005), 1099–1104.
7. Dobzhansky, T, Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. Am Biol Teacher 35 (1973), 125–129.
8. Jørgensen, C, Enberg, K, Dunlop, ES, et al. Ecology: managing evolving fish stocks. Science 318 (2007), 1247–1248.
9. Wade, N, Green revolution (I): a just technology, often unjust in use. Science 186 (1974), 1093–1096.
10. Nesse, RM, Williams, GC, Why we get sick: the new science of Darwinian medicine, 1994, Times Books, New York.
11. Wilson, EO, Consilience: the unity of knowledge, 1998, Little, Brown and Co, London.
12. Nesse, RM, Bergstrom, CT, Ellison, PT, et al. Making evolutionary biology a basic science for medicine. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:suppl 1 (2010), 1800–1807.
13. Stearns, SC, Ackermann, M, Doebeli, M, Kaiser, M, Experimental evolution of aging, growth, and reproduction in fruitflies. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97 (2000), 3309–3313.
14. Winterhalder, B, Smith, EA, Analyzing adaptive strategies: human behavioral ecology at twenty-five. Evol Anthropol 9 (2000), 51–72.
15. Nettle, D, Gibson, MA, Lawson, DW, Sear, R, Human behavioral ecology: current research and future prospects. Behav Ecol 24 (2013), 1031–1040.
16. Omenn, GS, Evolution in health and medicine Sackler colloquium: evolution and public health. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:suppl 1 (2010), 1702–1709.
17. WHO. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010, 2011, World Health Organization, Geneva.
18. Doyal, L, Pennell, I, The political economy of health, 1979, Pluto Press, London.
19. Wells, JC, The metabolic ghetto: an evolutionary perspective on nutrition, power relations and chronic disease, 2016, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
20. Rook, G, Backhed, F, Levin, B, McFall-Ngai, M, McLean, A, Evolution, human-microbe interactions and life history plasticity. Lancet 390 (2017), 521–530.
21. Jasienska, G, Bribiescas, RG, Furberg, A-S, Helle, S, Nunez-de la Mora, A, Human reproduction and health: an evolutionary perspective. Lancet 390 (2017), 510–520.
22. Darwin, C, On the origins of species by means of natural selection, 1859, Murray, London.
23. Dobzhansky, T, Boesinger, E, Human culture: a moment in evolution, 1983, Columbia University Press, New York.
24. Dennett, DC, Darwin's dangerous idea, 1995, Penguin, London.
25. Hamilton, WD, The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I. J Theor Biol 7 (1964), 1–16.
26. Jablonka, E, Lamb, MJ, Evolution in four dimensions: genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic variation in the history of life, 2005, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
27. Frazer, KA, Murray, SS, Schork, NJ, Topol, EJ, Human genetic variation and its contribution to complex traits. Nat Rev Genet 10 (2009), 241–251.
28. Ono, C, Kikkawa, H, Suzuki, A, et al. Clinical impact of genetic variants of drug transporters in different ethnic groups within and across regions. Pharmacogenomics 14 (2013), 1745–1764.
29. Jones, KE, Patel, NG, Levy, MA, et al. Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature 451 (2008), 990–993.
30. Gandon, S, Mackinnon, MJ, Nee, S, Read, AF, Imperfect vaccines and the evolution of pathogen virulence. Nature 414 (2001), 751–756.
31. Arias, CA, Murray, BE, Antibiotic-resistant bugs in the 21st century—a clinical super-challenge. N Engl J Med 360 (2009), 439–443.
32. Weatherall, DJ, The inherited diseases of hemoglobin are an emerging global health burden. Blood 115 (2010), 4331–4336.
33. Ardia, DR, Parmentier, HK, Vogel, LA, The role of constraints and limitation in driving individual variation in immune response. Funct Ecol 25 (2011), 61–73.
34. Barbujani, G, Magagni, A, Minch, E, Cavalli-Sforza, LL, An apportionment of human DNA diversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94 (1997), 4516–4519.
35. Goldgar, DE, Easton, DF, Cannon-Albright, LA, Skolnick, MH, Systematic population-based assessment of cancer risk in first-degree relatives of cancer probands. J Natl Cancer Inst 86 (1994), 1600–1608.
36. Seaquist, ER, Goetz, FC, Rich, S, Barbosa, J, Familial clustering of diabetic kidney disease. Evidence for genetic susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy. N Engl J Med 320 (1989), 1161–1165.
37. Collins, FS, Mansoura, MK, The Human Genome Project. Revealing the shared inheritance of all humankind. Cancer 91:suppl 1 (2001), 221–225.
38. Cohen, JC, Kiss, RS, Pertsemlidis, A, Marcel, YL, McPherson, R, Hobbs, HH, Multiple rare alleles contribute to low plasma levels of HDL cholesterol. Science 305 (2004), 869–872.
39. Keinan, A, Clark, AG, Recent explosive human population growth has resulted in an excess of rare genetic variants. Science 336 (2012), 740–743.
40. Hirschhorn, JN, Genomewide association studies—illuminating biologic pathways. N Engl J Med 360 (2009), 1699–1701.
41. Sermon, K, Van Steirteghem, A, Liebaers, I, Preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Lancet 363 (2004), 1633–1641.
42. Stearns, SC, Medzhitov, R, Evolutionary medicine, 2016, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.
43. Roff, DA, Evolution of life histories: theory and analysis, 1992, Chapman and Hall, London.
44. Lasker, GW, Human biological adaptability. The ecological approach in physical anthropology. Science 166 (1969), 1480–1486.
45. Wells, JC, Stock, JT, The biology of the colonizing ape. Am J Phys Anthropol 134:suppl 45 (2007), 191–222.
46. Gluckman, PD, Hanson, MA, Cooper, C, Thornburg, KL, Effect of in utero and early-life conditions on adult health and disease. N Engl J Med 359 (2008), 61–73.
47. Thavagnanam, S, Fleming, J, Bromley, A, Shields, MD, Cardwell, CR, A meta-analysis of the association between Caesarean section and childhood asthma. Clin Exp Allergy 38 (2008), 629–633.
48. Darmasseelane, K, Hyde, MJ, Santhakumaran, S, Gale, C, Modi, N, Mode of delivery and offspring body mass index, overweight and obesity in adult life: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One, 9, 2014, e87896.
49. Trasande, L, Blustein, J, Liu, M, Corwin, E, Cox, LM, Blaser, MJ, Infant antibiotic exposures and early-life body mass. Int J Obes (Lond) 37 (2013), 16–23.
50. Murk, W, Risnes, KR, Bracken, MB, Prenatal or early-life exposure to antibiotics and risk of childhood asthma: a systematic review. Pediatrics 127 (2011), 1125–1138.
51. Wells, JC, Yao, P, Williams, JE, Gayner, R, Maternal investment, life-history strategy of the offspring and adult chronic disease risk in South Asian women in the UK. Evol Med Public Health 2016 (2016), 133–145.
52. Lochmiller, RL, Deerenberg, C, Trade-offs in evolutionary immunology: just what is the cost of immunity?. Oikos 88 (2000), 87–98.
53. Benhariz, M, Goulet, O, Salas, J, Colomb, V, Ricour, C, Energy cost of fever in children on total parenteral nutrition. Clin Nutr 16 (1997), 251–255.
54. Lee, G, Yori, P, Olortegui, MP, et al. Comparative effects of vivax malaria, fever and diarrhoea on child growth. Int J Epidemiol 41 (2012), 531–539.
55. Crimmins, EM, Finch, CE, Infection, inflammation, height, and longevity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103 (2006), 498–503.
56. Guyatt, HL, Snow, RW, Impact of malaria during pregnancy on low birth weight in sub-Saharan Africa. Clin Microbiol Rev 17 (2004), 760–769.
57. Penn, DJ, Smith, KR, Differential fitness costs of reproduction between the sexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104 (2007), 553–558.
58. Le Bourg, E, Does reproduction decrease longevity in human beings?. Ageing Res Rev 6 (2007), 141–149.
59. Lawson, DW, Alvergne, A, Gibson, MA, The life-history trade-off between fertility and child survival. Proc Biol Sci 279 (2012), 4755–4764.
60. Panter-Brick, C, Lunn, PG, Baker, R, Todd, A, Elevated acute-phase protein in stunted Nepali children reporting low morbidity: different rural and urban profiles. Br J Nutr 85 (2001), 125–131.
61. Stearns, SC, Byars, SG, Govindaraju, DR, Ewbank, D, Measuring selection in contemporary human populations. Nat Rev Genet 11 (2010), 611–622.
62. Hrdy, SB, Mothers and others: the evolutionary origins of mutual understanding, 2009, Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA.
63. Alvergne, A, Lummaa, V, Ecological variation in wealth-fertility relationships in Mongolia: the ‘central theoretical problem of sociobiology’ not a problem after all?. Proc Biol Sci, 281, 2014, 20141733.
64. Colleran, H, Jasienska, G, Nenko, I, Galbarczyk, A, Mace, R, Community-level education accelerates the cultural evolution of fertility decline. Proc Biol Sci, 281, 2014, 20132732.
65. Wise, RA, Addictive drugs and brain stimulation reward. Annu Rev Neurosci 19 (1996), 319–340.
66. Wells, JC, The capital economy in hominin evolution: how adipose tissue and social relationships confer phenotypic flexibility and resilience in stochastic environments. Curr Anthropol 53:suppl 6 (2012), 466–478.
67. Van Noordwijk, AJ, de Jong, G, Acquisition and allocation of resources: their influence on variation in life history tactics. Am Nat 128 (1986), 137–142.
68. Lawson, DW, Mace, R, Sibling configuration and childhood growth in contemporary British families. Int J Epidemiol 37 (2008), 1408–1421.
69. Lustig, RH, Childhood obesity: behavioral aberration or biochemical drive? reinterpreting the first law of thermodynamics. Nat Clin Pract Endocrinol Metab 2 (2006), 447–458.
70. Finch, CE, Rose, MR, Hormones and the physiological architecture of life history evolution. Q Rev Biol 70 (1995), 1–52.
71. Gale, EA, Is type 2 diabetes a category error?. Lancet 381 (2013), 1956–1957.
72. Watve, M, Doves, diplomats and diabetes: a Darwinian interpretation of type 2 diabetes and related disorders, 2013, Springer, New York.
73. Kleinridders, A, Ferris, HA, Cai, W, Kahn, CR, Insulin action in brain regulates systemic metabolism and brain function. Diabetes 63 (2014), 2232–2243.
74. McGregor, G, Malekizadeh, Y, Harvey, J, Minireview: food for thought: regulation of synaptic function by metabolic hormones. Mol Endocrinol 29 (2015), 3–13.
75. Schneider, JE, Energy balance and reproduction. Physiol Behav 81 (2004), 289–317.
76. Li, J, Li, F, Zhao, A, Inflammation and leptin. Drug Discovery Today: Dis Mech 3 (2006), 387–393.
77. Victora, CG, Adair, L, Fall, C, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital. Lancet 371 (2008), 340–357.
78. Bartz, S, Mody, A, Hornik, C, et al. Severe acute malnutrition in childhood: hormonal and metabolic status at presentation, response to treatment, and predictors of mortality. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 99 (2014), 2128–2137.
79. Desborough, JP, The stress response to trauma and surgery. Br J Anaesth 85 (2000), 109–117.
80. Godfrey, KM, Gluckman, PD, Hanson, MA, Developmental origins of metabolic disease: life course and intergenerational perspectives. Trends Endocrinol Metab 21 (2010), 199–205.
81. Moore, T, Haig, D, Genomic imprinting in mammalian development: a parental tug-of-war. Trends Genet 7 (1991), 45–49.
82. Trivers, RL, Parent-offspring conflict. Am Zool 14 (1974), 249–264.
83. Haig, D, Genetic conflicts in human pregnancy. Q Rev Biol 68 (1993), 495–532.
84. Wells, JC, Parent-offspring conflict theory, signaling of need, and weight gain in early life. Q Rev Biol 78 (2003), 169–202.
85. Haig, D, Troubled sleep: Night waking, breastfeeding and parent-offspring conflict. Evol Med Public Health 2014 (2014), 32–39.
86. Shukri, NH, Wells, JC, Mukhtar, F, Lee, MS, Fewtrell, MS, Mother-infant signalling during breast-feeding: a randomised trial investigating the effects of a relaxation intervention in breastfeeding mothers on breast milk production, breast milk cortisol and infant behaviour and growth. Matern Child Nutr, 11, 2016, 110.
87. Elder, JP, Talavera, GA, Gorbach, PM, Ayala, GX, Theories and structures of public health behavior. Scutchfield, FD, Keck, CW, (eds.) Principles of public health practice, 2nd edn., 2003, Delmar Learning, New York, 253–272.
88. Laland, KN, Brown, GR, Niche construction, human behaviour and the adaptive-lag hypothesis. Evol Anthropol 15 (2006), 95–104.
89. Office for National Statistics. Inequality in healthy life expectancy at birth by national deciles of area deprivation: England, 2009–11, 2014, Office for National Statistics.
90. Caudell, MA, Quinlan, RJ, Resource availability, mortality, and fertility: a path analytic approach to global life-history variation. Hum Biol 84 (2012), 101–125.
91. Chisholm, D, Death, hope and sex, 1999, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
92. Schecter, DE, Francis, CM, A life history approach to understanding youth time preference: mechanisms of environmental risk and uncertainty and attitudes towards risk behaviour and education. Hum Nat, 21, 2010, 140i64.
93. Hillhouse, JJ, Turrisi, R, Examination of the efficacy of an appearance-focused intervention to reduce UV exposure. J Behav Med 25 (2002), 395–409.
94. Whitehead, RD, Ozakinci, G, Perrett, DI, A randomized controlled trial of an appearance-based dietary intervention. Health Psychol 33 (2014), 99–102.
95. Pampel, FC, Krueger, PM, Denney, JT, Socioeconomic disparities in health behaviors. Ann Rev Sociol 36 (2010), 349–370.
96. Pepper, GV, Nettle, D, Perceived extrinsic mortality risk and reported effort in looking after health: testing a behavioural ecological prediction. Hum Nat 25 (2014), 378–392.
97. Black, RE, Allen, LH, Bhutta, ZA, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. Lancet 371 (2008), 243–260.
98. Ceesay, SM, Prentice, AM, Cole, TJ, et al. Effects on birth weight and perinatal mortality of maternal dietary supplements in rural Gambia: 5 year randomised controlled trial. BMJ 315 (1997), 786–790.
99. Smith, CC, Fretwell, SD, The optimal balance between size and number of offspring. Am Nat 108 (1974), 499–506.