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The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Adaptation Reconsidered

Rickard, I.J.

Authors

I.J. Rickard



Contributors

A. Alvergne
Editor

C. Jenkinson
Editor

C. Faurie
Editor

Abstract

It is now well established that an individual’s experience in the womb can have long-term consequences for their health and well-being. From an evolutionary perspective, it can be predicted that organisms will respond to their early conditions adaptively, maximising their prospects for survival and reproductive prospects under the circumstances. However, relatively little attention is given to the fact that there are multiple ways by which such ‘developmental plasticity’ may evolve. It is necessary to consider kinds of plasticity that can involve something other than an individual organism adapting to an external physical environment. Notably, adaptive developmental plasticity occurs between traits within an individual’s body, as well as between individuals (e.g. between mother and foetus). Taking such an inclusive perspective on the nature of developmental plasticity suggests alternative conclusions to the interpretation of patterns of health and disease, and to which kinds of intervention might be expected to be effective.

Citation

Rickard, I. (2016). The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Adaptation Reconsidered. In A. Alvergne, C. Jenkinson, & C. Faurie (Eds.), Evolutionary thinking in medicine : from research to policy and practice (75-88). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29716-3_6

Online Publication Date May 14, 2016
Publication Date May 14, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 9, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Publisher Springer Verlag
Pages 75-88
Series Title Advances in the evolutionary analysis of human behaviour
Book Title Evolutionary thinking in medicine : from research to policy and practice.
ISBN 9783319297149
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29716-3_6