Why We Get Sick?

Why We Get Sick : The New Science of Darwinian Medicine

Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams

Vintage Books, NY

1996

290 pages

ISBN 0679746749

RM60.96 @ Kinokuniya

The next time you get sick, consider this before you pick up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the emerging science of Darwinian medicine argue that the ilness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design. Among the concerns they raise:

When may a fever be beneficial?

Why do pregnant women get morning sickness precisely when they are supposed to be nourishing their developing babies?

How do certain viruses "manipulate" their host into infecting others?

Why evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder?

Deftly summarizing the latest research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and from cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick answers the questions and more. The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay persons and medical practitioners alike.

They still believe in Darwinisme? Does natural selection exist? It doesn't because God does not play dice with the universe.


This is my favorite part of this book regarding cancers of female reproductive organs:

The more interesting finding is that the probability of a cancer of the female reproductive system at any age increased directly in relation to the number of menstrual cycles woman has experienced.The most likely victim of a cancer of the reproductive tissues is an elderly woman who had an early menarche and late menopause and never had her cycling interrupted by pregnancy and lactation.


About the authors:

Randolph M. Neese, M.D. is a practicing physician and professor, Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. George C. Williams, Ph.D, is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the State University @ Stony Brooke.