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Abstract
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) may arise as inevitable consequences of evolutionary adaptations optimized for shorter lifespans.
- Early-life adversity can influence immune, metabolic, and stress-response systems through genetic programming.
- Adaptations that enhance survival to reproduction may lead to health issues as life expectancy increases beyond ancestral norms.
- Evidence from hunter-gatherer populations shows age-related health problems despite traditional lifestyles, challenging the idea of lifestyle mismatch as the sole explanation for NCDs.
- Biological aging is structured and measurable even in individuals who appear healthy, suggesting that some health decline is intrinsic to aging.
- Prioritizing prevention in early life rather than midlife interventions could be more effective in managing NCDs.
- Recent studies in mice indicate that adaptive biological mechanisms may have age-dependent negative effects at the molecular level.
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