Health disparities and the ancestral environment : an evolutionary perspective / Anthony R. Mawson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mawson, Anthony R., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American philosophy.

Health services accessibility.

African Americans.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, England : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, [2023]

Summary:

This book makes the case that disparities in health outcomes affecting people of West Central African descent in the United States (African Americans) are due, in large part, to evolutionary physiological adaptations to potentially lethal infectious organisms in the ancestral environment of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Plasmodium falciparum, coupled with exposures unique to the environment of North America. According to the proposed theory, inherited characteristics acquired over millennia from adaptations to endemic tropical organisms helped to increase survivability in the original African environment. However, in the different natural and dietary environment of North America, these adaptations render people of West Central African descent susceptible to the same chronic diseases that affect other Americans. The theory has implications for disease treatment and for overall health and longevity.

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Other Essays

1

2

3

4

5

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

Other Format:

Print version: Mawson, Anthony R. Health Disparities and the Ancestral Environment

ISBN:

1-5275-1492-7