Survival Of The Sickest By Sharon Moalem

Hemochromatosis is a genetic disease in which there is too much iron that builds up in your body, this is referred to as an iron overload. Iron is an essential nutrient found in many foods but can be toxic to our bodies if we have to much. “Normally, humans absorb about 8-10% of the iron found in foods that they eat.” People with Hemochromatosis can absorb up to four times more iron than a normal human being. Since our bodies have no natural way to get rid of the extra iron, it gets stored in your body tissue including the liver, heart, pancreas and many other areas of our body can also be infected by this iron overload.

The first disease Moalem discusses, hemochromatosis, is a hereditary disorder that he himself lives with. It causes excess iron buildup throughout the body, damaging “the joints, the major organs, and overall body chemistry” (p. 13). Hemochromatosis can lead to “liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders[, ...] cancer” (p. 13) and, in the end, death. Although it is more common in some communities than others, today the low-penetrance disease only manifests in 1 in 200 people.

According to Egan, “Never let the kids see you sweat” (2006, p.1). The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan was announced as “a classical disaster tale” by the New York Times. This book was written to inform everyone about the untold story of those who survived the American Dust Bowl. The story documents how the darkest years of the Great Depression affected the economy and the people’s living environment as well. Egan’s book explains the importance of the Great Depression. Within this theme, Egan explores the struggle of survival and the broken promises made by the government.

Have you ever had to stay strong during times of desperation? In the book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Mattie, has to face a time of sadness and desperation, and she had to stay strong. Mattie has to be strong because her Grandfather needed food after they were abandoned on the side of the road and she had to venture out to get it in her own. Additionally, she got the fever and she lived through it. Last, Mattie found a little girl in the street named Nell, and even though Mattie was hungry, tired, alone and could barely take care of herself, she took Nell under her wing.

Hemochromatosis, also called iron overload, is a disease when the body absorbs too much iron from the food we eat and most often affects the liver, heart, pancreas, and skin. It is usually caused by genes in the body that mutate keeping them from working. Some signs and symptoms of this disease are weakness, joint pain, low libido, and/or if the disease has progressed to far diabetes or heart failure. Hemochromatosis is one of the more difficult diseases to diagnose because many symptoms are nonspecific and usually many people don’t show as many symptoms except elevated iron levels in their blood. Most will be treated with blood transfusions until the normal level of iron is reached. If diagnosed early the prognosis is excellent with possible checkups or phlebotomies.

Although populations in ancient societies suffered attacks, invasions, starvation, and persecution, there was a more efficient killer that exterminated countless people. The most dreaded killers in the ancient world were disease, infections and epidemics. In many major wars the main peril was not gunfire, nor assault, but the easily communicable diseases that rapidly wiped out whole divisions of closely quartered soldiers. Until the time of Hippocrates, in the struggle between life and death, it was, more often than not, death that prevailed when a malady was involved. In the modern world, although illness is still a concern, advances in thought and technique have led to the highest birth rates in recorded history. No longer is a fever a

Take hemochromatosis, a hereditary condition that causes iron to accumulate in a person's body. A person having hemochromatosis

Upon first glance, the title, Survival of the Sickest, seems to be confusing due to the inherent contradiction. How could someone who is sick lead a long life? After all, we usually perceive disease to be when something is wrong with our body such as through a pathogen which disrupts the normal physiology of an organism. We thus arrive at the conclusion that disease would potentially limit longevity. However, Dr. Sharon Moalem argues that there is a connection between disease and longevity. He argues that most diseases or conditions are protective against an evolutionary compromise, his main thesis in the book.

Hereditary hemochromatosis also known as HH and classic hereditary hemochromatosis is an inherited disorder that absorbs an abundant amount of iron in the body. The increased intake causes damage to the organs, which leads to many symptoms.

1. Hemochromatosis is a recessive inherited disorder that affects the body’s mechanism of metabolizing it’s iron resources. Lack of proper metabolizing resources can result in excess iron depositions in the body; leading to infertility, psychiatric disorders as well as various heart diseases, and even death if left untreated. This disease is said to have originated from the Vikings in Northern Europe, and is quite common among those of Western European descent. Similar to hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis is also a recessive hereditary disease, caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene that affects the movement of chloride ions between cells. As a result, the secretion of sweat, digestive juices and mucus are affected as well. Likewise, this disease

Reading Survival of the Sickest changed my perspective of diseases completely. It proved to me that everything happens for a reason; even a deadly disease. I was able to grasp that meeting evil with evil and fighting fire with fire is a valid method of protection. Expanding on to a life situation, I was able to realize that difficult times may be occurring to protect myself from even more tragic events, just like how hemochromatosis saved the Europeans from the plague, diabetes saved Northern Europeans from the Young Dryas, and favism saved and is saving thousands of people in the Mediterranean from malaria. Pondering upon the cases where diseases were chosen to defend humans against other detrimental diseases, I struck upon couple of possibilities

The first disease to be discussed by Dr. Moalem is an inherited disease called hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a blood disorder that affects the body’s process of metabolizing iron. Normally, the body is able to notice when a sufficient amount of iron is present in the blood, and reduces iron absorption by the intestines. However, hemochromatosis disrupts the body’s ability to detect when enough iron is in the blood. Thus, the body absorbs iron continuously, even though there is enough. The iron overload can ultimately lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, cancer, and death. Symptoms of hemochromatosis include abnormal heartbeat rhythm and joint pains. It is difficult to diagnose

The first disease to be discussed by Dr. Moalem is an inherited disease called hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a blood disorder where the body is incapable of metabolizing iron correctly. When a sufficient amount of iron is present, the body should be able to notice it, and stop its iron absorption. In a case where hemochromatosis is involved, the body cannot detect this. Consequently, the body continues its iron absorption, causing a massive iron buildup in the bloodstream. The iron overload can ultimately lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and death. Abnormal heartbeat rhythm and joint pains are some symptoms of having hemochromatosis. It is difficult to diagnose this

Hereditary Haemochromatosis (HH), first described in 1865, is a genetic disorder of metabolism, characterized by progressive iron overload resulting from abnormalities in intestinal iron absorption and or release of iron from reticuloendothelial cells . It is an autosomal recessive disorder, where the body accumulates excessive iron, which is deposited in a variety of organs. Iron cannot be excreted, thus, the excess builds to toxic levels in tissues of major organs such as the liver, heart, pituitary, thyroid, pancreas, lungs, and synovium (joints). These organs cease to function adequately and eventually become diseased. Serious illnesses such as diabetes, cirrhosis, hepatoma,

Popular academic writing’s claim that evolution is no longer relevant to humans because we have become so dependent on aspects of society such as technology and culture, that cultural adaptation has replaced biological adaptation (Dyson, 2007; Ward, 2001). Typically claimed, this means today, society plays an important role in compelling the further development of our species. However, times are considerably different now than how they were a while ago. Today, the average person’s exposure to environmental pressures is totaled up to stairs in need of baby proofing, environmental toxins, and microorganisms. For some of us, even with knowledgeable insight into the harshly unforgiving conditions that were mitigated throughout the millenniums, such a disparity in lifestyles is difficult to comprehend; To imagine uneasiness sparked by the state of hunger, the persistent beckoning of death at every hunt for satiation, or the one and only permissible goal of life simply to prolong it for another couple of hours is far from our reach. At least, such a cavity in comprehension is accurate for those of us that operate in the most illuminated parts of society. Those who do not, function in what is today 's most plausible peril, dysfunction.