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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Darwinian Medicine

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Synonyms

Evolutionary medicine; Evolutionary mismatch; Risk of illness; Variation in disease risk

Definition

Darwinian medicine can be defined as the application of principles of evolutionary theory in medical research and clinical practice. It utilizes and synthetizes various theoretical models and research from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, physiology, genetics, behavioral and health sciences, and anthropology. Symptoms or impaired functioning might represent evolved responses or, contrariwise, the absence of successful adaptation to a certain environmental factor. Accordingly, putting illness, diseases, or pathophysiological mechanisms in the evolutionary perspective can be helpful to understand the origin and significance of the symptoms and may provide some indication to deciding whether to offer symptomatic relief or not.

Introduction

Medicine is based on human biology, and biology at any organizational level can only be fully understood in view of...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical School, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary

    Bela Birkas

Authors
  1. Bela Birkas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bela Birkas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, Beaver, Monaca, PA, USA

    Kevin Bennett

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Birkas, B. (2019). Darwinian Medicine. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2983-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2983-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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