Evolved Tumor Suppression: Why Are We So Good at Not Getting Cancer?

Evolved tumor suppression: why are we so good at not getting cancer?

The law of natural selection can be used to understand cancer development at the level of species as well as at the level of cells and tissues. Through this perspective, I seek to explain: (i) Why the lack of sufficient selective pressure to prevent cancers in old age helps explain the exponential increase in cancer incidence in the elderly. (ii) Why the evolution of long-lived animals necessit...

Dietary Iodine: Why are so Many Mothers not Getting Enough?

Fortification of foods such as salt has been shown to be an effective way to ensure pregnant women get adequate iodine, a critical nutrient for proper brain growth. But dietary and food production shifts in the past few decades have resulted in dramatically decreased population levels of iodine, with potentially devastating effects for babies of iodine-deficient mothers.

Why are we not getting any closer to preventing suicide?

XXXL: why are we so fat?

ne of the most comprehensive data sets available about Americans—how tall they are, when they last visited a dentist, what sort of cereal they eat for breakfast, whether they have to pee during the night, and, if so, how often—comes from a series of studies conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Participants are chosen at random, interviewed at length, and subjecte...

Why so many of us are getting diabetes.

Hillary Carroll knew something was amiss. She had spent Memorial Day happily frolicking in her grandmother's swimming pool, but by that evening she was doubling over in pain every time she went to the bathroom. Her mother figured it was probably an infection and the next day took Hillary, then 10, to the pediatrician. Instead of getting a prescription for an antibiotic, however, the 220lb. youn...