Analysis Of Survival Of The Sickest

There are many diseases in the world that are deadly but acted as an evolutionary advantage in the past to help us, humans survive, reproduce and evolve into the species that we are now. For example, in Survival of the Sickest by Doctor Sharon Moalem and Jonathan Prince, it discusses diseases such as hemochromatosis, diabetes, and favism or glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency which all are deadly but helped humans survive in the past. Hemochromatosis is an inherent disease that disrupts the metabolism of iron in the body. Instead of letting excess iron pass through your body, the disease makes the body think that it never has enough iron and the body will keep absorbing iron for indefinite amounts causing high …show more content…
According to Survival of the Sickest, the disease was first discovered during the Korean war where African American suffered from hemolytic anemia which can cause liver cancer, heart cancer, and even death. This happened because they were served primaquine, an anti-malaria drug that stressed out red blood cells to create an environment where harmful malaria bacteria would not be able to thrive in. The cause was later isolated in 1956 by medical researchers as G6PD deficiency which is common in African and Mediterranean descents. G6PD is an enzyme that protects red blood cells from damage, and premature death. This means that the bodies of people with G6PD deficiency will be weaker against harmful bacteria, and with primaquine stressing the red blood cells, the body becomes even more vulnerable to disease causing malaria in those African American soldiers. This fatal disease is the most common enzyme deficiency in the world, affecting around four hundred million people as stated in Survival of the Sickest, and is most common in North America, South Europe, near the Mediterranean where fava beans are historically cultivated and consumed. Fava beans are actually the most common cause of hemolytic anemia hence giving the enzyme deficiency its name, “favism”. Fava beans contain vicine and convicine which produces free radicals that attack red blood cells causing hemolytic anemia in people with favism since they don’t have enough G6PD to protect the cells. This may lead to symptoms such as fatigue, severe weakness, and jaundice. Favism can be diagnosed by a blood test to check G6PD enzyme levels and the disease doesn’t require treatment since you can prevent hemolytic anemia by avoiding fava beans and chemicals that cause oxidant stress. Despite these harmful effects of favism, the disease