humanity's health

POSTED BY: 1kiki
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 21:38
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1KIKI

Monday, July 2, 2012 4:23 PM

When I think about humanity and how generally fragile and badly functioning we seem to be, I do wonder - how on earth did we ever get past our early evolutionary stages? Well, the other day I was watching The Life of Mammals and one episode was nearly devoted to how the San bushmen run their prey down - for hours. Which one of us would be capable of that, even if we spent years training?

So, I can think of a few reasons why most of us are the way we are.

One is that our numbers aren't being pruned by the demands of our environment, leading to a lot of genetic errors.

http://www.biosciencetechnology.net/News/2012/05/-Rare--Genetic-Varian
ts-Surprisingly-Common/

'Rare' Genetic Variants Surprisingly Common

The scientists discovered one genetic variant every 17 bases, which was a dramatically higher rate than they expected, said Novembre, a population geneticist who is a member of UCLA's interdepartmental program in bioinformatics.

Most of the time, only one person has the genetic variant and the other 14,001 do not.

"We saw lots of that," he said. "We discovered there are many places in these 202 genes where there is variation and only a few individuals differ from the whole group, or only one differs. We also see evidence that a substantial fraction of these rare genetic variants appear to be deleterious in a long-term evolutionary sense and might impact disease."

I think another is that we're living lifestyles we're not really adapted to. Our diets are deficient in DHA and D3 for example, we're deficient in sunlight, deficient in exercise, probably deficient in starvation (people are adapted to short-term starvation), and arguably in inhalable negative ions. It'd be like taking a rodent population, putting it into a small, dim, stuffy environment, providing an endless supply of grease and salt, then letting it marinade for a few thousand years to see what you come up with.

Another thing we are definitely doing wrong is creating and exposing ourselves to a vast array of unnatural substances. The following article is an example of that. Of course it may be wrong. But then again, it may be right.

Study Links Nanoparticles to Diseases, Arthritis

June 12, 2012
New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases.
New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases.

New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases. The findings that have been recently published in the international journal Nanomedicine have health and safety implications for the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of nanotechnology products and materials. They also identified new cellular targets for the development of potential drug therapies in combating the development of autoimmune diseases.

Environmental pollution including carbon particles emitted by car exhaust, smoking and long term inhalation of dust of various origins have been recognised as risk factors causing chronic inflammation of the lungs. The link between smoking and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has also been established. This new research now raises serious concerns in relation to similar risks caused by nanotechnology products which if not handled appropriately may contribute to the generation of new types of airborne pollutants causing risks to global health.

In their research, the Nanomedicine and Molecular Imaging team at Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine led by Professor of

RIONAEIRE

Monday, July 2, 2012 6:16 PM

When I was a little girl I got sick a lot. If I'd have lived in the past I would have died from those things and it would have been nature's way of getting rid of me so I didn't breed, because I'm a genetic disaster and have no business making babies. We live now adays, thank goodness for me but not so good for the collective gene pool. People who wouldn't have made it to adulthood are doing just that and making more babies with problems. Thus humanity isn't what it was. I'm taking myself out of the equasion by getting fixed so I don't perpetuate my genetic line. Plus I don't have enough emotional stammina to raise kids so I have no business making them.

People don't like this kind of talk, and I'm not suggesting we don't look after folk right so they die if they're not the best candidates for procreation, I'd never say such a thing. We live in a society where we need to look after each other, all people, no matter what is different about them. But because we do those good things it does cause genetic oopses a lot more. Double edged sword, but humanity, as in caring and kindness and morality, is more important and I'd never suggest we should revert to bad behavior of our ancestors, even if it would make a stronger species, we know better and thus we are responsable.

I have Kathy Bates on speed dial, mwa ha ha ha (in exaggeratedly evil voice)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

1KIKI

Monday, July 2, 2012 7:01 PM

I think there's more to it than genetics, but I'm personally leaning toward thinking genetics is one part of the picture.

SignyM: I swear, if we really knew what was being decided about us in our absence, and how hosed the government is prepared to let us be, we would string them up.

RIONAEIRE

Monday, July 2, 2012 7:09 PM

I agree Kiki, genetics is part of the equasion but environment, the chemicals we put into the world is also very bad for our bodies and have lasting effects generationally.

I have Kathy Bates on speed dial, mwa ha ha ha (in exaggeratedly evil voice)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

BYTEMITE

Monday, July 2, 2012 9:30 PM

...I think people are taking Dawkins' neo-Lamarckian ideas a little too far. Of course we can do what the San bushmen do, that's what people who have trained themselves to run marathons have done. The only difference is, the people running marathons have to actively pursue that, while with the bushmen its an everyday part of their lives.

A high rate of base mutations is nature working as intended. While there's indications some of these mutations (a "substantial" fraction) cause disorders, I suspect most are going to be in the garbage parts of our DNA by sheer random chance. I don't really see the problem here.

AURAPTOR

Monday, July 2, 2012 9:44 PM

Folks would be amazed at just how much they can endure when it comes to survival.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

WISHIMAY

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 2:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
I don't really see the problem here.

I agree. I have RA, my grandpa had RA, and before they even knew what it was, his aunt had "chronic ills"...He was born in the twentys, and she in the late 1800's. He worked his ass off, according to my gran- more than any man she ever met. His parents were sickly people, I forget what, so he was the one that raised a family, worked a full time job, planted gardens, in addition to running his parents farm. He was one of those guys that fed half the neighborhood... and died plowing snow from the rest of it...
If being a hard worker and eating right were all there is to a long healthy life and great DNA, he would still be here now. He's not. Like me, he got sick in his twenties.. That is not a co-incidence. Our DNA was fubared from the start or mutated at some point in history.
Taking a dip in thalidomide or licking an old broken thermometer will mess up your DNA. But people had messed up DNA long before we even really HAD chemicals.(OR NANOPARTICLES) Unless you wanna blame Native Americans for cooking their dinner

The U.S. four hundred years ago was as good as it will ever get...I'm to guess there were NO sick Native Americans four hundred years ago?? I don't think so, Tim...

WE ...ARE CHAOS. Perfection doesn't exist. Trying to find the scapegoat for why we break is- at best- inefficient. Trying to FIX the problems...only slightly more tangible... but I'll take it...

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 10:33 PM

Thanks kiki, an interesting set of snippets.

I pretty much agree with what you are saying.

1KIKI

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 3:46 AM

"Of course we can do what the San bushmen do, that's what people who have trained themselves to run marathons have done."

For 8 hours in 100F+ heat? Having a large percentage of your population able to do that rather than a select few?
Or, if that's not convincingly remarkable, let me put it this way - a San Bushman can run an eland to death from exhaustion.

"... I suspect most are going to be in the garbage parts of our DNA ..."

They didn’t test random DNA, they tested genes.

SignyM: I swear, if we really knew what was being decided about us in our absence, and how hosed the government is prepared to let us be, we would string them up.

1KIKI

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 7:45 AM

I have to say aside from 6ix and PN I don't think I could find a more scrambly post. It's difficult to even figure out which point you're trying to make to be able to discuss it. You seem to think that looking back 2 generations is meaningful compared to the 40,000 year (or 2,000 generation) timeframe of the one study. You seem to think that I'm claiming Indians never died of disease, when in fact what I'm claiming is that many died young. You seem to think that nanoparticles like that from fires somehow didn’t affect Indians, or that the sheer amount and variety of toxic substances we're exposed to today is just like it was 100, or 1,000 or 100,000 years ago.

But you can't mean any of that b/c that's just nonsense.

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
I don't really see the problem here.

I agree. I have RA, my grandpa had RA, and before they even knew what it was, his aunt had "chronic ills"...He was born in the twentys, and she in the late 1800's. He worked his ass off, according to my gran- more than any man she ever met. His parents were sickly people, I forget what, so he was the one that raised a family, worked a full time job, planted gardens, in addition to running his parents farm. He was one of those guys that fed half the neighborhood... and died plowing snow from the rest of it...
If being a hard worker and eating right were all there is to a long healthy life and great DNA, he would still be here now. He's not. Like me, he got sick in his twenties.. That is not a co-incidence. Our DNA was fubared from the start or mutated at some point in history.
Taking a dip in thalidomide or licking an old broken thermometer will mess up your DNA. But people had messed up DNA long before we even really HAD chemicals.(OR NANOPARTICLES) Unless you wanna blame Native Americans for cooking their dinner The U.S. four hundred years ago was as good as it will ever get...I'm to guess there were NO sick Native Americans four hundred years ago?? I don't think so, Tim...

WE ...ARE CHAOS. Perfection doesn't exist. Trying to find the scapegoat for why we break is- at best- inefficient. Trying to FIX the problems...only slightly more tangible... but I'll take it...

SignyM: I swear, if we really knew what was being decided about us in our absence, and how hosed the government is prepared to let us be, we would string them up.

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