Evolution of Obesity

Inbunden, Engelska, 2009

AvMichael L. Power,Jay Schulkin

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In this sweeping exploration of the relatively recent obesity epidemic, Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin probe evolutionary biology, history, physiology, and medical science to uncover the causes of our growing girth. The unexpected answer? Our own evolutionary success. For most of the past few million years, our evolutionary ancestors' survival depended on being able to consume as much as possible when food was available and to store the excess energy for periods when it was scarce. In the developed world today, high-calorie foods are readily obtainable, yet the propensity to store fat is part of our species' heritage, leaving an increasing number of the world's people vulnerable to obesity. In an environment of abundant food, we are anatomically, physiologically, metabolically, and behaviorally programmed in a way that makes it difficult for us to avoid gaining weight. Power and Schulkin's engagingly argued book draws on popular examples and sound science to explain our expanding waistlines and to discuss the consequences of being overweight for different demographic groups.They review the various studies of human and animal fat use and storage, including those that examine fat deposition and metabolism in men and women; chronicle cultural differences in food procurement, preparation, and consumption; and consider the influence of sedentary occupations and lifestyles. A compelling and comprehensive examination of the causes and consequences of the obesity epidemic, The Evolution of Obesity offers fascinating insights into the question, Why are we getting fatter?

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2009-08-10
Mått152 x 229 x 31 mm
Vikt748 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor408
FörlagJohns Hopkins University Press
ISBN9780801892622

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Fetma inom Medicin

Michael L. Power is a senior research associate to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a research associate to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Jay Schulkin is the director of the research department at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a research professor in Georgetown University's Department of Physiology and Biophysics. They are the coeditors of Birth, Distress, and Disease: Placental-Brain Interactions. Schulkin is also the author of Curt Richter: A Life in the Laboratory, also published by Johns Hopkins.

PrefaceIntroduction: Human Biology, Evolution, and Obesity1. Humanity on the Fat Track2. Our Early Ancestors3. The Evolution of Meals4. Evolution, Adaptation, and Human Obesity5. Evolutions, Adaptation, and the Perils of Modern Life6. Energy, Metabolism, and the Thermodynamics of Life7. Information Molecules and the Peptide Revolution8. Appetite and Satiety9. Getting Ready to Eat10. The Paradox of Feeding11. The Biology of Fat12. Fat and Reproduction13. Genetic and Epigenetic Correlates of ObesityConclusion: Surviving the Perils of Modern LifeReferencesIndex

Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin take a frankly Darwinian approach... The evolutionary account of obesity is a powerful one-indeed, almost too powerful. -- Elizabeth Colbert New Yorker 2009 Elbowing the weight-loss guides on 'health' bookshelves, is a spate of new, more diet-neutral books that track the sociology of obesity, including... The Evolution of Obesity. -- Mandy Katz New York Times 2009 Goes far beyond anything else that is available on obesity... Power and Schulkin deserve much credit for their bold attempt to combine evolutionary and reductionist explanations, and for their unflinching acknowledgment of complexity. Nature 2009 An excellent and comprehensive explanation for the increased incidence of obesity... In summary, this informative and easily read book is an important companion for students, fellows, and clinicians who wish to understand the causes of the obesity epidemic and how obesity might lead to metabolic disease. New England Journal of Medicine 2009 This will be an extremely useful introduction for graduate and undergraduate students and for mainstream researchers to set the wealth of endocrine and metabolic data connected with obesity into a wider framework of understanding. -- John Speakman Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 2010