This book proposes a way to radically renew medicine by extending to medicine the concepts of evolutionary biology. The book considers diseases not as unpredictable harmful events but as logical consequences of evolutionary mechanisms. In particular, a large part of the most widespread diseases that afflict modern populations are interpreted as the consequence of discordances (mismatches) between new living conditions and the adaptation of our species.
It discusses the basic concepts, as well as diseases deriving from alterations of the genotype and general concepts about diseases deriving from alterations of the ecological niche. It also describes diseases deriving from relations with other living beings especially when the ecological niche is altered, diseases deriving from conditions beyond the adaptation range, and physiological phenomena that cause troubles and suffering or even death. A particular study is dedicated to the interpretation of aging and its consequences in normal or altered conditions of the ecological niche. The final part of the book describes the implementation of evolutionary medicine.
This book, complementing the "Evolutionary Gerontology and Geriatrics" book, which is also published in this series, provides a valuable read for scholars and students in the fields of medicine, evolutionary biology, preventive medicine, and gerontology.
1. Introduction.-
2. Diseases Deriving from Alterations of the
Genotype.-
3. Diseases Deriving from Alterations of the Ecological Niche
Part I: Not Regarding the Holobiont.-
4. Diseases Deriving from Alterations
of the Ecological Niche - Part II: Regarding the Holobiont.-
5. Diseases
Deriving from Relations with Other Living beings and from Conditions Beyond
the Adaptation Range.-
6. Physiological Phenomena that Cause Troubles and
Suffering or Even Death Part I: Non-Phenoptotic Phenomena.-
7.
Physiological Phenomena that Cause Troubles and Suffering or Even Death
Part II: Phenoptotic Phenomena Different from Slow Phenoptosis.-
8.
Physiological Phenomena that Cause Troubles and Suffering or Even Death
Part III: Slow Phenoptosis or Aging.-
9. Other Topics Studied by Evolutionary
Medicine.-
10. Implementation of Evolutionary Medicine.
Giacinto Libertini, MD, Independent Researcher, Member of the Italian Society for Evolutionary Biology, was the first to formulate some basic concepts of evolutionary medicine and to propose the theory of aging as an adaptive phenomenon favored by natural selection in terms of kin selection. He has also extended and deepened the concept of phenoptosis proposed by Vladimir Skulachev.
Graziamaria Corbi, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine in the Dept. of Translational Medical Sciences, Federico II Univ. of Naples, Italy, has contributed to over 120 publications covering internal medicine, geriatrics, cardiology, clinical pharmacology and public health.
Olga Shubernetskaya, PhD, Assistant Professor of ShemyakinOvchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia is a very promising and innovative scholar of telomere and telomerase biology.
Klara Komici, PhD, Assistant Professor of Dept. of Medicine and Health Sciences, Univ. of Molise, Campobasso, Italy, has contributed to more than 60 works in the fields of internal medicine.
Nicola Ferrara, PhD, Professor of the Dept. of Translational Medical Sciences, Federico II Univ. of Naples, Italy, Dean of the Specialization School in Gerontology and Geriatrics, past President of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, has contributed to about 400 works in many fields including mainly cardiology, geriatrics, and biogerontology.
Marco Passamonti, PhD, Professor of Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Bologna, Italy, Coordinator of the Degree Course in Natural Sciences, past President of the Italian Society of Evolutionary Biology (SIBE-ISEB), has contributed to more than 90 works about many biological topics.
