In this episode of Fitness Rocks I talk to Dr. James Evans from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  Dr. Evans is a molecular biologist and one of the few people involved with teaching evolutionary biology to medical students.

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It is my contention that [...]]]>

In this episode of Fitness Rocks I talk to Dr. James Evans from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  Dr. Evans is a molecular biologist and one of the few people involved with teaching evolutionary biology to medical students.

Play Podcast 150

It is my contention that we will not be able to solve the epidemics of obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases until we recognize the central role of evolution in our modern health problems.  Our biology is unsuited for the modern environment that we have created.  An over-abundance of unhealthy food and a lifestyle in which physical activity is optional are the root causes of chronic diseases.  In addition to pursuing new “miracle drugs” to “cure” lifestyle-related illnesses, we should also be addressing the elements of our modern environment and our modern lifestyles that are out of sync with our evolution and are causing these chronic illnesses in the first place.

More than half of the United States population refuses to accept the science of evolution, which leaves me wondering if we will ever be able to stop the steady increase in the percentage of Americans who are becoming obese and developing chronic diseases?  The very fact that people of normal weight today are statistically abnormal should be a huge signal that something is fundamentally wrong with our modern lifestyle.  It appears to me that our society is accepting the fate of escalating medical disabilities from chronic diseases as if these diseases are inevitable.  They aren’t.

People will counter me by claiming their right to a different opinion.  I respect that, but an opinion is what you have when you decide whether you think you look better in a blue shirt or a white shirt.  Evolution is science.  Science is the field of human endeavor that brought you  cell phone technology, the internet, coronary artery bypass grafting, antibiotics, the small pox vaccination,  space flight, satellites, air planes, automobiles, etc. Evolution is a concept that you either understand or you don’t.  Understanding our biology, our evolution, is the key to solving our epidemic of chronic diseases.

Monte Ladner, M.D.

References:

The Voyage Continues: Darwin and Medicine at 200 Years

Dr. Evans’ Power Point Slide Show on Evolutionary Medicine

Video Lecture on Evolution at FORA.TV by Dr. Kenneth Miller

This week we start a series on evolution and health.  We’ll begin with an interview with Dr. Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish.  Dr. Shubin is a Paleontologist and a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Chicago.

Play Podcast 149

Understanding evolution helps us understand the biology behind the obesity epidemic, and [...]]]>

This week we start a series on evolution and health.  We’ll begin with an interview with Dr. Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish.  Dr. Shubin is a Paleontologist and a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Chicago.

Play Podcast 149

Understanding evolution helps us understand the biology behind the obesity epidemic, and the epidemics of obesity-related diseases.

Before you conclude that evolution has nothing to teach us about why we’re getting fatter think about the role evolutionary biology is already playing in medicine.  Antibiotic resistance, like MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus), is an evolutionary phenomenon.  Dr. Shubin and I discuss this in the interview.  When you get a live attenuated vaccine, you are getting a vaccine made using the principles of evolutionary biology.

References:

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (Vintage)

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