6 ms·
> #2 killer in the US it’s likely for the circulatory system to be undergoing rapid change. Primarily killing people past reproductive age though.
by learc83 6y ago
> #2 killer in the US it’s likely for the circulatory system to be undergoing rapid change.
Primarily killing people past reproductive age though.
- HNAwayGone 6y agoThose people still influence the young, though. They have a huge impact on their young childrens' diets and habits, and I think epigenetics can throw a wrench into things by affecting how genes are expressed based on environmental factors.
- learc83 6y agoIf you're talking about a mutation that will increase the reproductive success of your children(or more likely grandchildren in the case of reduced chance of a heart attack), then the advantage would have to be even greater because of the high chance that your descendants don't have the same mutation. I'm not saying there's no natural selection occurring, but that saying that heart disease is the #2 killer of Americans out of context likely overstates the selection pressure heart disease causes.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- yarg 6y agoDoes it also impact fertility?
- Retric 6y agoHeart disease can impact cognitive function, fertility, economic status, etc well before death.
- learc83 6y agoYes, but the vast majority of people who die from heart disease don’t develop it until they are older. Which is why it’s misleading to talk about it being America’s #2 cause of death when discussing evolutionary pressure.
- Retric 6y agoHeart disease starts at a young age. Mentioning deaths is relevant to demonstrate how common it is, not that the only impact is death.
- learc83 6y agoNo it doesn’t. At least not normally. Google the prevalence rates of heart disease in people under 40. About 0.6% of people under 40 have the most common type of heart disease https://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@sop/@smd/documents/downloadable/ucm_449846.pdf https://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@sop/@smd... Again pointing out that it is the 2nd most common killer vastly overestimates its evolutionary impact. The same is true of cancer.
- Retric 6y agoNormal blood pressure increases steadily with age. https://www.idealbloodpressureinfo.com/blood-pressure-chart-by-age/ https://www.idealbloodpressureinfo.com/blood-pressure-chart-... Target and maximum heart rates similarly decline from your teens. The point where these get called a precursor to heart disease is largely semantics. But they do impact heath before it’s noticeable as a problem.
- learc83 6y agoYou’re trying awful hard to save your point. Target heart rate declining and blood pressure rising with age in no way implies that most people who later die of heart disease are somehow less reproductively fit when they are younger.