Table 1 Hypotheses for adaptation or balancing selection in human diseases
From: A Clinical Perspective in Evolutionary Medicine: What We Wish We Had Learned in Medical School
Finding | Disease association | Potential benefit | Selected references |
|---|---|---|---|
Factor V Leiden | Thromboembolism | Decreased peripartum bleeding | |
Survival benefit in sepsis | |||
Apo E | Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease | Anti-pathogen defense | Finch and Stanford 2004 |
Decreased diarrhea | Oria et al. 2010 | ||
BRCA-1 | Breast cancer | Unknown. Evidence for positive selection | O’Connell 2010 |
None. Evidence for founder effect | Im et al. 2011 | ||
Pro-inflammatory pathways involved in obesity | Diabetes, cardiovascular disease | Enhanced innate immunity | Roth et al. 2011 |
Buffering energetic uncertainties |