Why We Get Sick (42 page)

10
The antiteratogen theory of morning sickness is presented by Margie Profet on pp. 327–65 of
The Adapted Mind
, edited by J. H. Barkow et al. (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992).

11
The reluctance of regulatory agencies to take fetal sensitivities into account is discussed by Ann Gibbons in
Science, 254:25
(1991).

1
A recent general treatment of medical genetics is T. D. Gelehrter and F. S. Collins’
Principles of Medical Genetics
(Baltimore: Williams &. Wilkins, 1990). A number of articles describing advances in the understanding of genetic diseases and progress in gene therapy were published in 1992 and 1993 in
Science
(256:773–313, 258:744–5, 260:926–32). For a vivid personal view of the development of modern medical genetics and wise commentary on its implications, we recommend James Neel’s
Physician to the Genome
(New York: Wiley, 1994). Another thoughtful treatment of the ethics of genetic counseling can be found in
Genetic Disorders and the Fetus
, edited by Aubrey Milunsky (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992); see especially the chapter by J. C. Fletcher and D. C. Wertz.

2
Selection against unfavorable genes, their rate of loss by such selection, their expected equilibrium frequencies in populations, and related quantities can be related to one another algebraically, as explained by any textbook of population genetics, such as J. Maynard Smith’s
Evolutionary Genetics
(New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989). Our presentation in this chapter is greatly simplified.
Huntington’s Disease
, edited by P. S. Harper (London: Saunders, 1991), summarizes the history and epidemiology of this condition. It would be difficult to find a modern textbook of genetics or evolution that does not discuss the sickle-cell gene. Our favorite treatment is by Jared Diamond in
Natural History
, June 1988, pp. 10–13.

3
Our information on G6PD deficiency is from an article by Ernest Beutler in
The New England Journal of Medicine
, 324:169–74 (1991). The quotation from F. S. Collins is from his article in
Science, 774
(1992). Complications in cystic fibrosis genetics are reviewed by Gina Kolata in
The New York Times
, November 16, 1993, pp. C1, C3, and related evolutionary problems by Natalie Angier in
The New York Times
, June 1, 1994, p. B9. Contributions to the study of Tay-Sachs disease are offered by B. Spyropoulos and Jared Diamond in
Nature
, 331:666 (1989); by S. J. O’Brien in
Current Biology
, 1:209–11 (1991); and by N. C. Myrianthopoulos and Michael Melnick in “Tay-Sachs Disease: Screening and Prevention,” in
Palm Springs International Conference on Tay-Sachs Disease
edited by M. M. Kaback (New York: Liss, 1977). Our information on the human fragile-X syndrome is from F. Vogel et al.’s article in
Human Genetics
,
86:25–32 (1990). Jared Diamond has written a number of nicely reasoned articles on hidden benefits of genes that cause disease. Some of these are in
Discover
, November 1989, pp. 72–8, and in
Natural History
, June 1988, pp. 10–13, and February 1990, pp. 26–30, Worthy examples of the voluminous literature on the genetic aspects of disease and health are Teresa Costa et al.’s article in
American Journal of Human Genetics
, 21:321–42 (1985), and in a group of five articles on anthropological aspects of genetic disease in
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
, 62(1) (1983).

4
The effect of PKU on miscarriage rates is discussed by L. I. Woolf et al. in
Annals of Human Genetics
, 38:461–9 (1975). A recent statement of Richard Dawkins’ idea that a body is the genes’ way of making more genes is his
The Selfish Gene
, new ed. (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989).

5
The fitness effects of the T-locus in mice are discussed by Patricia Franks and Sarah Lenington in
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
, 18:395–404 (1986). Medical aspects of mitochondrial DNA are discussed by Angus Clarke in
Journal of Medical Genetics
, 27:451–6 (1990). For general treatments of intragenomic conflict, see Leda Cosmides et al.’s classic work in
Journal of Theoretical Biology
, 89:83–129 (1981), and David Haig and Alan Grafen’s article in
Journal of Theoretical Biology
, 153:531–58 (1991).

6
Familial and environmental aspects of cardiac malfunction are discussed by M. P. Stern on pp. 93–104 in
Genetic Epidemiology of Coronary Heart Disease: Past, Present, and Future
, edited by M. P. Stern (New York: Liss, 1984).

7
Piggy’s extreme dependence on his glasses, and the tragic results of their damage and spiteful theft, are depicted in Chapters 10 and 11 of
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding. The quotation is from Chapter 11. The sudden emergence of myopia in the children of urbanized Eskimos is documented by F. A. Young et al. in
American Journal of Ophthalmology
, 46:676–85 (1969). General discussions of the genetics and etiology of myopia are provided by Elio Raviola and T. N. Wiesel’s article in
The New England Journal of Medicine
, 312:1609–15 (1985); by B. J. Curtin’s
The Myopias
(Philadelphia: Harper & Row, 1988); and by G. R. Bock and Kate Widdows in
Myopia and the Control of Eye Growth
(Chichester, New York: Wiley, 1990). A brief summary of recent research is provided by Jane E. Brody in
The New York Times
, June 1, 1994, p. C10.

8
Information on the genetics of alcoholism is in M. A. Schickit’s article in
Journal of the American Medical Association
, (1985); in J. S. Searles’ in
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
, 97:153–67 (1988); and in M. Mullen’s in
British Journal of Addictions
, 84:1433–40 (1989).

9
The quotations are from pp. 89–90 of Melvin Konner’s
The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
(New York: Harper Colophon, 1983) and p. 215 of Richard Dawkins’
The Selfish Gene
(New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1976).

1
The Irish ballad is on p. 103 of
100 Irish Ballads
(Dublin: Walton’s, 1985). For the general reader, an excellent overview of the evolution of aging is provided by several articles in the February 1992 issue of
Natural History
and by R. Sapolsky and Caleb Finch on pp. 30–8 of the March-April 1991 issue of
The Sciences
. Excellent recent technical works are available in M. R. Rose’s article in
Theoretical Population Biology
, 28:342–58 (1984); in his
Evolutionary Biology of Aging
(New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1991); and in Caleb Finch’s
Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome
(Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1991).

2
Death rates in the United States are from
Vital Statistics in the United States, 1989
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1992). The demographic aspects of aging are well reviewed by J. F. Fries and L. M. Crapo in
Vitality and Aging
(San Francisco: Freeman, 1981).

3
Figure 8–1 is redrawn from Figure 3–2 in
Vitality and
Aging with permission.

4
Figure 8–3 is redrawn from Figure 9.2 in
Vitality and
Aging with permission. We got the story about people fleeing a tiger from Helena Cronin’s
The Ant and the Peacock
(New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992).

5
The lines about the “one-hoss shay” are from “The Deacon’s Masterpiece” on pp. 158–60 of
The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1908). The apparent coordination of aging effects is discussed by B. L. Strehler and A. S. Mildvan in
Science
, 132:14–21 (1960).

6
The quotation is from August Weismann’s “The Duration of Life,” in A.
Weismann: Essays upon Heredity and Kindred Biological
Problems, edited by E. B. Poulton et al. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891–2). The article by G. C. Williams is in
Evolution, 11
:398–411 (1957).

7
The J. B. S. Haldane reference is to
New Paths in Genetics
(New York: Harper, 1942). The P. B. Medawar quotation is from p. 38 of his article “Old Age and Natural Death,” reprinted on pp. 17–43 of his
The Uniqueness of the Individual
(London: Methuen, 1957). See also his An
Unsolved Problem in Biology
(London: M. K. Lewis, 1952). The classic theoretical treatment of the subject is W. D. Hamilton’s in
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 12:12–45
(1968).

8
For important recent comments on the evolution of menopause, see A. R. Rogers’ article in
Evolutionary Ecology
, 7:406–20, Kim Hill and A. M. Hurtado’s in
Human Nature
, 2:313–50 (1991), S. N. Austad in
Experimental Gerontology
, 29:255–63 (1994). Alex Comfort’s book is
The Biology of Senescence
, 3rd ed. (New York: Elsevier, 1979).

9
Figure 8–4 is adapted from R. M. Nesse’s article in
Experimental Gerontology
, 23:445–53 (1988). R. L. Albin’s article is in
Ethology and Sociobiology
, 9:371–82 (1988). Hemochromatosis is reviewed by J. F. Desforges in the
New England Journal of Medicine
, 328:1616–20(1993).

10
For recent findings on the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease, see the article by W. Strittmatter et al. in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
, 90:1977–81 (1993). S. I. Rapoport’s work is in
Medical Hypotheses
, 29:147–50.

11
R. R. Sokal’s and other experimental studies of the role of pleiotropic genes in senescence are summarized in M. R. Rose’s book, cited for the beginning of the chapter. See especially his pp. 50–6 and 179–80.

12
Work on dietary restriction is reviewed by J. P. Phelan and S. N. Austad in
Growth, Development, and Aging
, 53(1–2):4–6 (1989). For evidence on the beneficial effects of antioxidants and their mechanism of action, see R. G. Cutler’s article in
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
, 53:373s-379s (1991). The quotation on gout is from p. 622 of Lubert Stryer’s
Biochemistry
, 3rd ed. (New York: Freeman, 1988). S. N. Austad’s reasons for believing that the aging process may be quite different in different species are presented in
Aging
, 5:259–67 (1994). His opossum work is in
Journal of Zoology
, 229:695–708 (1994).

13
E. T. Whittaker’s discussion of postulates of impotence is mainly on pp. 58–60 of his From
Euclid to Eddington. A Study of Conceptions of the External World
(New York: Dover, 1958).

For authoritative and accessible overviews of human evolution, we suggest Roger Lewin’s in
the Age of Mankind: A Smithsonian Book of Human Evolution
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1988) and Jared Diamond’s
The Third Chimpanzee
(New York: HarperCollins, 1992). For an engrossing biography of a contemporary hunter-gatherer woman, we recommend Marjorie Shostack’s
Nisa: The Life and
Words
of a !Kung Woman
(New York: Vantage Books, 1983).

1
The quotation from Charles Darwin is from p. 191 of the first edition of
The Origin of Species
(London: John Murray, 1859).

2
A more dramatic account of the unfortunate effect of human speech adaptations on traffic control in the throat is provided in Chapter 10 of Elaine Morgan’s
The Scars of Evolution
(London: Penguin, 1990). More technically detailed information can be found in Philip Lieberman and Sheila E. Blumstein’s
Speech Physiology, Speech Perception, and Acoustic Phonetics
(Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988).

3
Our use of the book by George Estabrooks,
Man, The Mechanical Misfit
(New York: Macmillan, 1941), is at variance with its spirit. While it does describe many design flaws of the human body, its main message is the misfit between that design and the uses to which it is put in modern times. It is also a eugenicist tract.

4
“Stone Agers in the Fast Lane” is the title of an article by S. B. Eaton et al. in
The American Journal of Medicine
, 84:739–49 (1988).

5
Luigi Cavalli-Sforza et al. in
Science
, 259:639–46 (1993), estimate the current population at about a thousand times that of the Stone Age. The prevalence of human infanticide, and comparable behavior in other species, has recently gotten detailed attention. See
Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Perspectives
, edited by G. Hausfater and S. B. Hrdy (New York: Aldine, 1984).

6
For details of the symptoms of protozoan and helminth diseases, see Part XV (pp. 1714–78) of
The Cecil Textbook of Medicine
, edited by J. B. Wyngaarden and L. H. Smith (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1982). Many of the unpleasant effects of parasites are described, and some pictured, in the book by M. Katz et al. cited for p. 41. Richard Alexander’s quote is from p. 138 of the book cited for p. 17.

7
A 15,000-year antiquity for domesticated dogs is suggested by Vitaly Shevoroshkin and John Woodward in their article on pp. 173–97 in
Ways of Knowing. The Reality Club 3
, edited by John Brockman (New York: Prentice Hall, 1991).

8
The quotation about cave paintings is from p. 57 in Melvin Konnor’s
The Tangled
Wing:
Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
(New York: Harper Colophon, 1983).

1
For more on the origins of agriculture and husbandry, see Chapters 10 and 14 of Jared Diamond’s book, cited for the beginning of Chapter 9.