Biology of Human Health

HEB 10 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

A multidisciplinary introduction to fundamental aspects of human biology relevant to health. Why do we age, get sick, and die? How do we stay healthy? Why are some individuals and populations more vulnerable to disease and premature death than others? And, importantly, how can each of us evaluate confusing, conflicting, and constantly changing information about health? To address these questions without being prescriptive, this class will review how the human body evolved, explore how interactions between our inherited physiology and the environment can keep us healthy or lead to disease, and consider the powerful roles of behavior, experience and social forces as drivers of disease risk as well as our understanding of those risks. Examples of major topics include the evolutionary forces that shaped the human life cycle; theories for how and why we age; debates about what drives excess weight gain; shifting ideas about diet, exercise, and sleep; the role of chronic stress and discrimination in health inequality; and the factors determining whether pathogens evolve to become more benign or more deadly.