Welcome to a New Journal-Journal of Evolutionary Medicine

Author(s): Paul W Ewald

Abstract

Evolutionary principles have been increasingly applied to the health sciences over the past 30 years. The discipline that is emerging from these applications, often referred to as evolutionary medicine, has already provided a better understanding of what disease is and why it occurs, and frameworks for more effective interventions. It emphasizes that disease may result from mismatches between present and past environments, but also that humans are continually evolving in response to current environments. It clarifies when treatment of disease manifestations may be helpful or harmful and how interventions to control infectious diseases may lead to antibiotic resistance and vaccine escape.

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image 10.4303/jem/Q120501

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