Why we get sick

What Hacker News says

1. slicktuxDec 2023
   I rarely take Tylenol or any over the counters…if I get a fever I ride it out and I feel much better the next day.

   Good book that talks about the bodies evolutionary responses is “Why we Get Sick”

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2. voisinJun 2021
   Check out the book Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the root of most chronic disease(0). TL;DR: Insulin resistance. There’s some great discussion about men’s and women’s fertility in there.

   (0) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49207255

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3. lukesandbergSep 2011
   I read a great book about things like this: http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Sick-Darwinian/dp/067974674...

   There are several chapters about the hormonal effects of childbearing and what the evolutionary benefits are for the children. A few i can remember off the top of my head are:

   Breastfeeding will often prevent women from ovulating and thus becoming pregnant. In this way mothers resources are not strained by taking care of too many children at a time and the current child will have a better chance of survival.

   Fetuses secrete a hormone called human placental lactogen that inhibits maternal insulin, this leads to high glucose levels in the blood and thus more nutrients available to the fetus it can also result in diabetes in the mother during the pregnancy.

   preeclampsia (gestational high blood pressure) is another similar effect where hormones excreted by the fetus raise maternal blood pressure in order to increase blood flow to the placenta.

   Having a fathers testosterone levels fall during early parenting is probably a key evolutionary adaptation because it would prevent fathers from seeking new mates (in order to make more babies and thus spread their genes) in order to care for the new child. The study noted that testosterone levels later rose when the children became older, this too follows the evolutionary argument because once a child is old enough it is more efficient for the father to attempt to father more children.

   By far the most interesting part of this section in the book was about male jealousy. The theory is that because it is fairly difficult for a man to tell whether or not he is raising another mans child. men have evolved to be overly protective of their chosen mates so that they do not invest to many resources (time included) and thus lower their own genetic viability. Jealousy, while present in both sexes is a much stronger emotion in men (according to the authors this is true across all cultures).

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4. generalenvelopeDec 2023
   I don't mean to rain on your parade - but the reason I've heard of this book is red pen reviews: https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/why-we-get-sick/ Which didn't give it a particularly favorable review in terms of scientific accuracy
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5. d4rkp4tternNov 2023
   An interesting question is, if there is a book/article that references studies, does that mean it’s correct? E.g I’m reading Benjamin Bikman’s Why we Get Sick (how insulin resistance is at the root of many problems, and how a low carb high fat diet can prevent it). Lots of scientific articles referenced. Makes it more believable but obviously we can’t judge the correctness of those articles themselves.
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6. d4rkp4tternNov 2023
   After reading Benjamin Bikman’s book (Why we Get Sick) I think the other benefit of IF/TRF besides caloric restriction is that you’re also reducing your “insulin abuse”, I.e you are avoiding having elevated insulin levels for a longer period, which helps with improving insulin sensitivity. This book (highly, highly recommend) makes the case that insulin resistance is at the root of many metabolic and other disorders. I think there’s too much focus on weight loss in these threads, but even those with normal weight and BMI can have issues due to insulin resistance.
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