ANTH

Anthropology

The study of humans

Medical Anthropology

study the factors that contribute to human disease or illness as well as the ways in which human groups respond to them

Franz Boas

father of modern American anthropology; -did cross culture research

franz boas findings

-over time immigrant children began to look more native/grow at same rank
-human groups not hierarchically ranked
-growth is environmental (nutrition-childhood and in utero)
-push back on essentialism

culture

-patterns of behavior that are shared/common to a group (beliefs, practices, values,traditions)
-is learned (individual social, symbolic)
-is constantly evolving NOT static or related to race, ethnicity/people different than us
-aspects interact with health

emic perspective

the perspective of the insider, the one belonging to the cultural group in question

etic perspective

the perspective of the outside observer

cultural relativism

ability to understand a culture/cultural practices on its own terms and not make judgements using standards of one's own culture
-should not judge a culture relative on another one, rather individually

Biocultural Perspective

Interaction between biology and lived experience

proximate cause

"what" and "how" disease occurs

ultimate cause

"why" a behavior in context of natural selection

Medicalization

defining a condition as a disease or in need of medical surveillance

why is research not a good measure

narrow subset of humans-not best standard for everyone

disease

Physiological alterations that impairs function

illness

Express symptoms experiencing-subjective

sickness

Legitimacy, choices/lack of, expectation of sick vs well

Scheper-Hughes and Lock

3 bodies of health
Individual Body- sole locus of disease
Social Body-reflect health of social setting in which they live
Body Politic-political systems that shape health outcomes for different people
→access to healthcare

embodiment

ways in which environment in which humans live, leaves profound traces in human biology, or alters biological development in children

social support and mortality

Social support, positive health outcomes, lower mortality.

social determinants of health

conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks

Examples of SDOH

-quality/access to education
water quality
-stress level
-economic resources

Evolution as a fact

Changes in heritable traits(characteristics) of biological organisms over time
Establishes scientific view of how organisms change over time as a result of heritable traits

evolution as a process

The origin of biological systems

biological evolution

the change over time in populations of related organisms

Evolution as a theory

coherent group of propositions used to account for a class of phenomena

Aristotle

-Earth is "full"
-Living forms can be arranged on a scale from less to more complex
-Species are fixed

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

-proposed changes did take place through use/disuse of parts of body to meet needs/environmental conditions
-acquired characteristics can be passed onto offspring

Lamarckian evolution

-mechanisms by which traits are acquired during an offsprings lifetime and passed to offspring
-evolutions acquired traits

charles darwin evolution

-natural selection and discovery of DNA put this mode of inheritance into disfavor
-research shows traits acquired during offsprings lifetime can be passed onto offspring through variation in gene expression (epigenetics)

natural selection

main variation of evolution

Lamarck view on evolution

-short neck→stretches to reach food→continues stretching until longer→long necked descendant after many generations

Darwin-Wallace view of evolution

-original group exhibits variation in neck length→natural selection favors longer necks in that environment (greater proportion traits passed to next generation) →after many generations group is still variable but increase in neck length

Adaptations

response to selective forces/environmental stressors
-genetic (inherited)
-over generations

Physiological plasticity (adaptability)

Capacity for physiological plasticity is genetic, however responses themselves are environmentally induced
-short-medium time-within individuals
Ability of organisms to respond to stressor in moment-immediate

behavioral adaptation

Cultural traditions and innovation

ex of Physiological plasticity (adaptability)

hemoglobin response to different altitudes

ex of Behavioral/cultural adaptation

hot→go in shade /build shelters

drivers of evolutionary change

climate
food availability
disease

natural selection

differential survival and reproduction due to differences in individual traits

novel environments

massive change that have occurred over time and their effect on biological systems, hard to understand trajectory of human evolution,and adaptations to arise to be insync with environment

coping with novelty

diet related diseases,breast cancer, addiction

Evolved Defenses

- Pain
- Nausea/vomiting
- Sneezing and coughing
- Diarrhea
- Inflammation and fever
- Iron deficiency
- Pregnancy sickness
- Anxiety

smoke detector response

understand flaws
-vomit in response to upset stomach, but no stomach bug-low risk
-no vomit in response to upset stomach, stomach bug-high risk

Trade-off

nothing good about having disease but trade off/alternative of death is

ex of trade offs

not good to have sickle cell however to be carrier provides human with an advantage in fighting malaria

constraints

become stuck in absence of mutation since humans need variation

ex of constraints

appendix isnt getting any smaller because more vulnerable to infection

conflicts with other organs

competition for access to resources

ex of conflicts

evolution of antibiotic resistance-mutate quicker than antibiotics created

Prevalence

The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.

Incidence

The number or rate of new cases of a particular condition during a specific time.

endemic

a disease that has a long history in a population with little change and prevalence of incidence over time

epidemic

a disease that dramatically increases prevalence over a short period of time

Pandemic

epidemic that occurs on a global scale

Morbidity

another term for illness
#deaths/total population

Why do we eat food?

provide energy and fuel
-social/cultural

Metabolism

Chemical reactions in organisms to sustain life

energy purpose

building proteins, eliminate waste from cells

basal metabolic rate (BMR)

amount of energy expressed in calories needed to keep the body functioning at rest
60-70%calories burned/day

active metabolism

amount of energy expressed in calories needed for physical activity

total energy expenditure

total amount of energy used by the body each day
TEE=REE+DIT+PA

physical activity

any form of movement that causes your body to use energy

factors that determine energy requirements

biological sex, body weight, body composition, age, activity

Why do males have a higher BMR?

more muscle/less fat makes it easier to burn calories/lose weight faster
5-10% faster than females

body weight energy requirements

heavier you are the more calories you need to maintain
burn more calories in beginning of diet than end

age energy requirements

BMR slows with age as we lose muscle mass

activity pattern energy requirements

Regular exercise/increase muscle mass encourages higher rate to burn calories even when resting

Brain

smaller but more expensive to run in terms of calories

protein function

Components of muscle, bone, carrier proteins that transport oxygen to tissues

protein sources

-9 essential amino acids-cannot be synthesized by body
-Meat, animal products, quinoa and buckwheat

protein deficiency

-little muscle/catabolism
-comprised immune function
-growth retardation in kids
-Kwashiorkor

fat function

energy storage
insulation
organ protection

Fat sources

meat,oil

too much fat

obesity

too little fat

malnutrition

subcutaneous fat

fat located under the skin

visceral fat

fat stored within the abdominal cavity in association with the internal abdominal organs
-associated with high fat low fiber diet

fatty acids

Essential-not synthesized, alpha linolenic acid, linoleic acid

fatty acids purpose

Modifies to make range of steroid hormones that affect inflammation, mood and behavior

fatty acids sources

Green leafy vegetables, flax and chia seeds, canola, walnut and soybean oils ( alpha linolenic acid) vegetable oil (linoleic acid)

Micronutrients

-need in smaller quantities
-vitamins and minerals

Fat soluble vitamin-stored

D

Water Soluble -not stored

C

vitamin d

regulates calcium and utilized in bone growth
egg yolk salmon sardines

Minerals

inorganic-calcium

calcium

bone and tooth formation, regulates muscle contraction
-dairy, collard greens

iron

Component of hemoglobin, myoglobin; oxygen transport
Found in seafood, meat, legumes, whole and enriched grains, potatoes, egg yolk, green vegetables and dried fruit
DEFICIENCY
Extreme fatigue, weakness, headaches
TOO MUCH
Diabetes, heart disease,liver disease, vulnerability to infectious disease
Evolutionary-lot of iron, invaders use iron, if stored invaders die faster and recover

dietary reference intake

-planning and assessing standards for food programs

problems with food labels

latest health concerns and science change
-developed using data from US/EU datasets
-a lot not taken into consideration on labels-need to be aware consumer
-need macro/micro not too much/little so need reference but has to be in our own context

Bary popkins

-describing and putting a model of dietary transitions in human history
-how nutrition transitions are associated with certain disease risks

pattern 1-hunter gatherers

labor intensive, wild plants and animals,high disease rate, low fertility/life expectancy

pattern 2-settlements

cereals dominate, water, labor intensive, nutritional deficiencies emerges stature declines, high fertility, low life expectancy

pattern 4-non communicable disease

increased fat-sugar processed foods, shift in technology of work and leisure
-obesity emerges.increased life expectancy

bipedalism

resources become more dispersed, increased seasonality

upward walking

2 feet more efficient than 4, faster is more efficient
-cost males more energy because they are bigger

big brains

expensive brain 2% BW but 20% energy

increase body size/decrease dental size

Allowed by Diet changes-quality of diet -bigger brain, more calories to sustain-become flatter

ancestral diet

higher quality,wider variety

gut microbiome

100 trillion microorganisms (mostly bacteria) but also viruses,fungi and protozoa-in human gastrointestinal tract (highest concentration in colon)
-different species have specialized functions
-found throughout digestive tract, but concentrated in colon
-associated with physical and mental disease
-can't digest fiber without certain bacteria-ferments
-break into short chain fatty acids-regulate glucose levels and insulin sensitivity
-high in fiber-decreased risk of disease bc SCFA produced in fermentation proce

saturated fat

solid at room temp-milk butter lard