Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (1994)

by Randolph M. Nesse, George C. Williams

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Health & Fitness. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:The next time you get sick, consider this before picking up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the science of Darwinian medicine argue that illness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design. Among the concerns they raise: When may a fever be beneficial? Why do pregnant women get morning sickness? How do certain viruses "manipulate" their hosts into infecting others? What evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder? Deftly summarizing research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and form cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick, answers these questions and more. The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay person and medical...… (more)

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A really excellent, if slightly outdated, resource on the Darwinistic underpinings of our responses to disease. By far the best part of the book was the table categorizing disease responses (protective v. quirks v. secondary purpose). The book may have been made slightly stronger if it stuck more strictly to the topic of disease; however, as an introduction to the rigorous scientific ideas behind Darwinism, it was made richer by the discussions of pregnancy, foodstuffs, kin altruism and selfish gene phenomena. Thoroughly enjoyable, although not much new for the already versed reader. (

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settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |

This is a well written book that takes a look at why people get sick from an evolutionary perspective. This book is easy enough to understand without requiring a medical/biology degree, but not so simplified that it assumes the readers are have the attention span of a gnat and the intelligence of an amoeba. This is a meat and potatoes type of book compared to the bowl full of lettuce books that seem to be common in the popular science genre these days.

I do however wish the authors would update this book to include any additional information discovered/hypothesized in the last 20 years, but what they cover is still relevant and very interesting. (

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ElentarriLT | Mar 24, 2020 |

Excellent introduction to Darwinian medicine, with good examples of how an evolutionary perspective adds to our understanding of the origins of disease. While medicine usually focus on the "proximate causes" of disease (such as viral or bacterial agents, or inflammatory processes), we can learn much from also examining the "ultimate" or evolution-derived causes, which would include our genetic inheritance formed by mutation and natural selection, and especially by mismatches between our current resource-rich environments and the "environment of evolutionary adaptation" of our paleolithic ancestors.

Note that while the Kindle edition is (c) 2012, the book was published in 1996 and has not been revised. (

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bodhisattva | Dec 3, 2012 |

Slightly dated, yet interesting read on approaching medicine with a view based on Darwinian science. Authors do a good job taking topics normally covered in freshman biology and expand on them to make them more readable. Authors frequently mention Margie Profet who is interesting to read about in her own regard. (

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pbirch01 | Jul 8, 2009 |

Offers fresh and illuminating ideas about disease, allergy, parenting, sex, and civilisation, all in the context of modern evolutionary theory. (

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stancarey | Oct 6, 2006 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Randolph M. Nesse	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Williams, George C.	—	main author	all editions	confirmed

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1994

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Vis medicatrix naturae

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Health & Fitness. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:The next time you get sick, consider this before picking up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the science of Darwinian medicine argue that illness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design. Among the concerns they raise:

When may a fever be beneficial?
Why do pregnant women get morning sickness?
How do certain viruses "manipulate" their hosts into infecting others?
What evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder?

Deftly summarizing research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and form cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick, answers these questions and more. The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay person and medical...

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