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The Evolutionary Misfit: Evolution, Epigenetics, and the Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases
1Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61032 Fano, PU, Italy.
Epigenomes
|December 24, 2025
Summary
Increased human lifespan has led to more non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Evolutionary medicine explains these NCDs as mismatches between our evolved biology and modern environments, highlighting the need for lifestyle and urban health strategies.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary medicine
- Public health
- Genetics
Background:
- Human life expectancy has increased significantly, leading to a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
- Aging populations and low fertility rates strain healthcare systems globally.
- Evolutionary medicine offers a framework to understand disease vulnerabilities as outcomes of evolutionary processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how evolutionary principles, such as mismatch theory and developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), explain the paradox of increased lifespan and NCDs.
- To investigate the roles of epigenetic plasticity and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in modulating disease risk.
- To propose strategies for mitigating NCDs by aligning modern environments with evolved human biology.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis integrating theories from evolutionary biology, developmental biology, and public health.
- Review of evolutionary medicine concepts including mismatch theory, DOHaD, mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, and disposable soma theory.
- Examination of epigenetic mechanisms and their potential influence on phenotypic plasticity and disease susceptibility.
Main Results:
- Many NCDs arise from mismatches between ancestral adaptations and modern environments characterized by abundance and sedentarism.
- Early-life epigenetic plasticity (DOHaD) can influence how individuals respond to these mismatches.
- Evolutionary theories explain why longer lifespans in altered environments increase clinical expression of NCDs.
Conclusions:
- NCDs are often predictable outcomes of evolutionary trade-offs and mismatches, not design failures.
- Prioritizing quality of life through prevention and management is crucial, as NCDs are generally not curable.
- Population-level interventions, particularly urban health strategies, are key to realigning modern environments with human biology for healthier, sustainable societies.
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