Evolutionary Medicine Looks to Our Early Human Ancestors for Insight Into Conditions Like Diabetes
7th September 2021
Like all living things, humans are the product of a complex evolutionary history. Our ancestors’ environment and diets, and the limits of human biology, have led to adaptations that have improved our survival through natural selection. Despite these adaptations, our bodies remain prone to illness and disease. If we have evolved and adapted to our environment, why do we still get sick?
While remarkable at understanding the mechanisms of illness and disease, modern medicine can often overlook the underlying reasons for their emergence. Evolutionary medicine argues that understanding our ancestral history and the evolutionary reasons for illness can explain disease prevalence and provide insight for clinical care.