ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion: Paleo Health

Introduction to ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion

This How–To ASB 301 Guide is meant to help students be successful with an assignment that covers the global history of health. The ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion: Paleo Health allows you to explore and articulate your understanding of some of the concepts covered under course materials, gauge the intriguing aspects you see, and imagine their future impacts or additional inquiries. This How-To Owlisdom Guide will help you through each section of the assignment and give you clear, concise instructions to guarantee professionalism and thoroughness in addressing your requirements.

Describe one concept from health and human origins we learned through reading, video, and lectures that you thought was most intriguing. Explain it in your own words. Examples might be ideas from Darwinian medicine, a technique used to rebuild a particular component of health in the past, or the particular effects or inferences from a specific study.

Understanding and Describing Health Concepts

In the ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion: Paleo Health, we will cover our definition of health concepts and choose some interesting health concepts.

• Review your course materials thoroughly to see what concept of health and human origins captures or intrigues you.
• Pick a topic with enough info to describe and analyze it accurately.
• Explain the concept in your own words without delay. Try to keep your paragraph around 100–150 words long. Ensure that your description includes basic principles and features unique to the idea.

Example

One of the most interesting ideas I have come across in our study of health and human origins is that of Darwinian medicine. Darwinian medicine (also known as evolutionary medicine) examines the role of evolution in the genesis of disease and health issues. The intriguing factor about this approach is that it uses principles of natural selection and evolutionary theory to explain why some health conditions exist, and how they have evolved along with humans.

Tell us what about this concept you find particularly interesting.

Analyzing Interest in the Concept

We will then discuss why we chose the selected health concept and what we like about it.

• Think about why this idea stuck out to you. Is it this complicated? Or the application? Or the influence on how we understand human health?
• Write at least two things that interest you about the concept.
• Elaborate on these aspects and explain why they are important in studying health in the historical or contemporary context.

Example

I am especially interested in Darwinian medicine because it has a very novel way of looking at common diseases. It questions the usual biomedical standpoint by arguing that some qualities that make us susceptible to disease may have actually been adaptive in past ecological situations. For example, traits that make us predisposed to diabetes or obesity could have been beneficial in environments where food was scarce plumping up stores for leaner times. Secondly, Darwinian medicine helps us understand why one person may not respond to certain treatments similarly to the next person, why our evolutionary history matters to individual medical outcomes.

This is important because it widens our view of health from proximate causes to more evolutionary foundations. It makes us reevaluate how we can best prevent and treat diseases in a framework that more closely fits our biological history.

What effect (if any) do you predict this concept could have in the future for current health issues? If you don’t have a prediction, what more would you like to know about the concept? For example, what question(s) would you ask a researcher working on that topic?

Future Implications and Inquiries

For this section of ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion: In Paleo Health, we will talk about the future effects of the chosen concept.

• Discuss any possible effects this idea might have on health issues that exist now or in the future. Be speculative, but be logical.
• If your prediction is hard, make the impact you wish to see or theorize.
• Then, think of the things you still want to learn the concept. Think of 2-3 questions you would want to ask an expert or a researcher in the field.

Example

Darwinian medicine could be useful for tackling big global health problems. From an evolutionary point of view disease definition would help us better prevent against diseases by considering history of human evolution. For example, it might allow treatments that adapt themselves to evolutionary backgrounds particular to individuals, increasing the efficiency of the treatment.

However, there are still many questions I would like to explore about Darwinian medicine. For example:

1. How can we introduce evolutionary biology more thoroughly into current medical training and practice?
2. What are possible risks that applying an evolutionary perspective to complex diseases could oversimplify their causes?
3. What might evolutionary medicine contribute to solving global health crises, including antibiotic resistance or new emergence of viruses?

As researchers move toward the application of historical insights to modern health problems, these would be important questions. It would guarantee that our medical practice would advance iteratively along with our biological understanding of the human.

Students will respond to the prompt by creating one Discussion Post (50-150 words). This should be in its thread. The second requirement is that in response to two other peers’ initial posts, students will post a response that is no more than 50-100 words and critical or substantive (e.g., exemplar, critique, question).

Peer Responses

Responding to peers is vital to the ASB 301 Module 2 Discussion: Paleo Health. Three peer responses are required. For instance, I will give one example post. Below are some points you can remember when writing your peer responses.

• You should type 50 to 100 words in response to other students’ comments.
• Try to contribute value through encouragement, critique, or asking questions that help the development of further reflection.
• Choose responses conducive to providing a new perspective or constructively challenging their views.

Example

Response 01

Hi Sam, nice post! Your treatment of Darwinian medicine is inspiring to the extent that evolutionary theory can explain modern diseases. It’s incredible how these traits that once served us well can now contribute to health issues. Though we can identify special features of individuals based on their evolutionary background, how should we be thinking about the ethical implications of categorizing people by their evolutionary backgrounds in personalized medicine? This might lend itself to some type of genetic determinism in healthcare choices. This could further this discussion and, at the same time, open discussion of possible ethical concerns of broadly applying Darwinian medicine.

Response 02

We have been tasked with writing three peer responses. I have followed the given instructions in one response. By following these instructions, you will have no trouble writing Peer Responses to the Module 2 Discussion.

Closing

By completing this assignment, you shall be better able to understand the intricate link between the understanding of societal health in historical terms and the challenges of modern health. By participating thoughtfully in the material and with your peers, your understanding of the intricacies of health studies and your ability to analytically read cold historical data and predictions will improve. This guide to ASB 301 should serve as a roadmap to getting through the assignment quickly and efficiently so you can achieve all educational objectives with clarity and depth.