“What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” (p. 28). In the scientific novel Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince, self-acclaimed “Medical Maverick” Dr. Moalem makes in-depth analyses of current human diseases that, ironically, may have led to the survival of mankind in the past. He presents a novel concept that greatly contradicts what have been universally accepted beliefs surrounding biology and the process of human evolution for a long time. With the use of myriad scientific studies and research, he formulates surprising theories about a positive correlation between disease and humanity. Moalem narrates the scientific world’s findings that strongly exemplify his assertions, however arbitrary they may seem at first. Three of the diseases that he examines, hemochromatosis, Type 1 diabetes, and favism, could have been particularly useful for resistance against other illnesses and survival in a historically harsh environment. 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.
Dr. Sandra Wilson (2001) provided great insight on why people do what they do in her book “Hurt People Hurt People”. As a Correctional Case Manager for North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in North Carolina, I have heard many stories from hurt women who have hurt others and as a result landed in prison. So many times I thought to myself that if this person had received therapy or counseling earlier in life, it’s possible that this circumstance would never have happened. Affect
In “The Victims” by Sharon Olds it describes a divorce through the eyes of the parents’ children. The first section is shown through past tense as the speaker is a child and the last section is shown in present tense with the speaker already being an adult trying to make sense of past events. The word “it” in the first two lines carries a tremendous weight, hinting at the ever so present abuse and mistreatment, but remaining non-specific. The first part generates a negative tone toward the father who is referred to as malicious by the mother who “took it” from him “in silence” until she eventually “kicked him out.” Through the entirety of the poem the children are taught to hate their father. Who taught them? Their mother showed them that their father was a villain and were taught to have no sympathy for him but “to hate you and take it” and so they did so. Although the poem never directly states what the father did to receive the family’s hated, the speaker gives examples as to why he is hated.
Arguments can be made on whether being cruel to animals is harsh or fair but indeed my believes are that no matter who you are or what you are, no one deserves to be treated with such treatment. Animal cruelty, harms animals but arguments can be made on whether it can also affect humans as well . As the author Sarah West states in the Article Animal cruelty is something that we can all work together to prevent this issue that is affecting us nationwide.
Haemochromatosis is an inherited disease due to excess iron in the body. It manifests itself by discoloration of the skin, liver abnormalities and diabetes.
As a feminist, it is almost to be expected that many of Angela Carter’s happy ever after endings will strike the reader with a bold feminist message. However, in The Bloody Chamber, this is not necessarily the case. Although there are several feminist messages in the stories’ resolutions, these messages are not always presented in the way one would expect, and not every female protagonist is presented as a feminist character. By taking the roles of typically Gothic women and toying with the presentation of female characters, many of Carter’s feminist messages are not as one would expect.
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
The genetic disease Hemochromatosis, whose mutation is located in the X chromosome of the 6th chromosome pair, is a disease which was developed by humans thousands of years ago through mutations in their genetic code. Hemochromatosis disrupts the way the human body metabolizes iron, affecting the blood and the liver. However, if left untreated, Hemochromatosis can cause heart problems. People who suffer from Hemochromatosis experience the following symptoms: abnormal heart rhythm, darkening of skin, chronic fatigue and joint pain. In a normally functioning body, the body reduces the amount of iron absorbed by the intestines and the excess iron will pass through the body unabsorbed. The disease, when it disrupts the process of metabolizing iron, makes the body
Hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder where you body absorbs excess iron from the food that you eat. Your body then stores the excess iron in your crucial organs like your heart, brian, pancreas, and liver. Your body also stores the iron in your joints. If too much iron were to accumulate in any of your vital organs it could lead to organ failure and even
In conclusion, Survival of the Sickest essentially teaches us how our ancestors have survived through the bubonic plague, the Younger Dryas, and even now malaria, with the help of other diseases like hemochromatosis, diabetes, and favism, respectively. Furthermore, the book truly explains and shows how these diseases proved to provide real evolutionary advantages to certain humans by protecting them from something killing many other humans at the moment. However, there was a balance in these advantages because in truth, these diseases may have saved them then, but it still had the capability to and probably did kill them
Hemochromsatosis- A disorder in which the body absorbs more iron than needed. There are two types primary which is genetic or secondary which is from repeated blood transfusions. It mostly comes from the diet you consume. The excess iron is stored in the organs and leads to organ toxicity. It can also lead to serious illnesses such as liver disease, heart problems and diabetes.
Hereditary Hemochromatosis is a disease that causes the body to absorb and store more iron than is needed. Iron is an important nutrient that people get from food. It is the main component of hemoglobin, and it carries oxygen away from the lungs to the rest of the body. In Hereditary Hemochromatosis, the body absorbs almost twice as much iron as it should be, that causes it to be stored in other areas such as joints and major organs. This excess iron cannot leave these joints or major organs, Over time this can cause diabetes and damage to an organ. Even though a kid could be born with hemochromatosis, the disease might not be recognized or diagnosed till early adulthood or later. This is caused by a virus in a gene that controls how much iron the body takes in from one’s meal. This genetic disease alters the regulation of iron absorption. If correctly diagnosed, HH is easily and effectively treated, but if untreated, it can lead to severe organ damage.
Moalem describes hemochromatosis as a hereditary disease in which a person has an overabundance of iron in their blood. Despite iron being a crucial metal to most life on Earth - humans, parasites, and phytoplankton alike - an overabundance of the metal has detrimental effects on the body. When left untreated, hemochromatosis can cause “liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, and even cancer” (Moalem 2). Since the disease is hereditary, evidently hemochromatosis has been passed on from generation-to-generation for quite some time. However, when applying this to the theory of natural selection, it seems unreasonable for a harmful disease to constantly be passed on if it does not improve living conditions
Hemochromatosis is an inherited recessive genetic disorder where the body absorbs and stores too much iron in the body. Often when iron is discussed in United States diets it is to combat the portion of our society that is anemic due to and iron-deficient diet, but we often fail to think about the other end of the spectrum. Unlike people with iron-deficiently anemia individuals with hemochromatosis have an excessive amount of iron in their body which can lead to overtime organ damage. “If hemochromatosis is not detected and treated early, it may eventually cause serious irreversible disorders such as arthritis, liver disease, heart disease and diabetes later in life.”1 Unfortunately there are few symptoms of the disease, and of those symptoms they are very generic like chronic fatigue, weakness, joint pain, depression, shortness of breath. As you can see those physical symptom can easily point to many different issues (including iron-deficient anemia) before a doctor will usually think about hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis vague beginning symptoms are usually why is so underdiagnosed by doctors in the early stages. Thus many times hemochromatosis is not diagnosed until the progression
Presumed to have been plaguing humanity since the Viking era, hemochromatosis is a fatal hereditary disease that upsets the body's natural metabolizing of iron. The mineral, although essential to the survival of all living organisms, becomes extremely lethal in abnormally large quantities. Unfortunately, this serves as rather tragic news to those afflicted with the disease, since their bodies absorb iron in an uncontrollable manner. Various medical complications and consequences, including cancer, infertility, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, arthritis, and damage in the joints and overall body chemistry, could eventually occur over a long period of time. Hemochromatosis furthermore attacks major organs such as the heart and liver, and
Iron is an essential mineral in the human body. It is involved in the transport of oxygen in the blood together with the haem group. However an overload of this crucial mineral causes a chaos in the human body. This overload of iron known as a haemochromatosis is defined by Dr. Griffiths (Griffiths, 2011) as “…an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by toxic accumulation of iron”. The hereditary type was first described in 1865. But it is until 1966 that scientist were able to spot the exact gene mutation of haemochromatosis: HFE gene.