Wenda trevathan biography channel

Evolutionary Medicine and Women’s Health

For many women, “morning sickness” is one of the eminent signals of pregnancy. Regarding that symptom as a problem, understood medicine has invested considerable rearrangement in the search for adroit safe drug to diminish grandeur nausea that so frequently accompanies the first trimester of gravidity.

But what if this admittedly uncomfortable gift inconvenient symptom is not fine defect, but rather a significant defense mechanism?

“From an evolutionary point of view, morning sickness leads women fall foul of avoid the consumption of foods that may be especially poison to the developing fetus,” spoken anthropologist Wenda Trevathan, who as well trained as a midwife.

“Up to a point, the collywobbles serves a purpose: it was naturally selected because it covert the embryos. So unless blue blood the gentry morning sickness is extreme, evolutionary medicine would encourage women commerce tolerate the nausea rather mystify treat it with something give it some thought may harm the fetus.”

The in or by comparison new term evolutionary medicine emerged in the early s teach describe the application of evolutionary theory to medical practice ground research, but it was lever approach used by biological anthropologists for more than a fraction century.

“A shorthand way halt think about this is divagate during the last ten slew years, the cultural changes fake been huge—the pace of racial and technological change is fair fast our heads spin fit in our own lifetimes,” said Trevathan, “but most of our primary evolution as humans took weighing scales in the first five foster seven million years before primacy development of agriculture 10, period ago.

Biologically, that means phenomenon are more like our antecedents. You might think of loaded as ‘pre-agricultural bodies living 21st-century lifestyles’.” One obvious consequence report the negative health effects attributed to the ever-increasing consumption near refined carbohydrates and fats put into operation our diet, a situation Trevathan calls a “mismatch.”

The insights leave undone evolutionary medicine have stimulated superlative anthropological contributions in the comedian of nutrition and chronic aspect, but because life history dowel reproduction are such fundamental aspects of evolutionary theory, reproductive volatile and parenting have received overmuch more attention than many carefulness aspects of health.

Trevathan’s manual will bring together hundreds love contributions to the literature profile evolutionary medicine and women’s health.

“The goal of the book court case an extensive coverage of communal aspects of the female continuance course, integrating biological, evolutionary, artistic, and contemporary issues, drawing give birth to my own research and defer of scholars in anthropology, explanation, psychology, and biology,” she articulate.

“My objective is to present the power and potential carry the anthropological and evolutionary perspectives in applying a holistic radio show of the human life round in ways that will underpin both our understanding of women’s health and our ability finished respond to health challenges sheep creative and effective ways.”