A ground-breaking and fascinating account of fetal origins of adult disease.

New discoveries reveal how crucial interactions which determine our destiny occur before birth, when our genes interact with their environment as the embryo and fetus develop. These processes - in the matrix of the womb - are evolutionary echoes of mechanisms which allowed our hunter-gatherer ancestors to survive. These exciting insights into predictive adaptive responses suggest new ways of protecting the health of the fetus, infant and adult. If inappropriate they can trigger obesity, diabetes and heart disease, formerly thought to result solely from adult lifestyle. The new concepts in this book are crucial to understanding the daunting public health burden in societies undergoing rapid transition from poverty to affluence. They add an important new dimension to evolutionary theory. Synthesising developmental biology, evolutionary history, medical science, public health and social policy, this is a ground-breaking and fascinating account by two of the world's leading pioneers in this important emerging field.

Can an evolutionary perspective be integrated in day-to-day practice and is it of value in medical education and training? If so, when and how? Highlighting exciting areas of research into the evolutionary basis of health and disease, Medicine and Evolution: Current Applications and Future Prospects answers these questions and more. I

Offering a study of biological, biomedical and biocultural approaches, this book is suitable for researchers, professors and graduate students across the interdisciplinary area of human development. It is presented in the form of lectures to facilitate student programming.

In your practice, you require advanced knowledge of the obstetrical, medical, genetic and surgical complications of pregnancy and their effects on the mother and fetus. With both basic science and clinical information, six new chapters, and an updated color design, you need look no further than the 6th edition of this long-time best seller. Includes both basic science and clinical information to give you comprehensive knowledge of the biology of pregnancy. Acts as an excellent resource for OB/GYNs studying for their Maternal-Fetal Medicine boards — and for practitioners who need quick access to practical information. Provides an updated and focused reference list to keep you up to date on the standards of care in maternal-fetal medicine today. Keeps you current with a new section: Disorders at the Maternal-Fetal Interface...and 6 new chapters: Biology of Parturition, Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Intrapartum Assessment of Fetal Health, Pathogenesis of Pre-term Birth, Maternal and Fetal Infectious Disorders, and Benign Gynecological Conditions of Pregnancy. Features over 50% new authorship with increased focus on international perspectives. Includes the following hot topics in Maternal-Fetal Medicine: o Biology of Parturition o Fetal Growth o Prenatal Genetic Screening and Diagnosis o Fetal Cardiac Malformations and Arrhythmias o Thyroid Disease and Pregnancy o Management of Depression and Psychoses during Pregnancy and the Puerperium Focuses on evidence based medicine, the current best practice in MFM for diagnosing and treating high risk pregnancies. Includes new illustrations and an updated, color design.

Endocrine disruption represents one of the most controversial environmental issues of our time. Mounting evidence stemming from more than 10 years of experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies has transformed the once generally discounted subject of endocrine disruptors into an issue of tremendous concern not only within the scientific community but among society as a whole. Following initial evidence from basic research, endocrine disruption in humans has now emerged as a major medical challenge. In this respect, puberty, a crucial developmental stage, has been definitively identified as a key window of vulnerability with regard to endocrine disruptors. Written by leading authorities in the field, Endocrine Disruptors and Puberty offers an engaging and comprehensive overview of this fascinating and rapidly growing problem. An indispensable resource for all clinicians and scientists interested in this challenging endocrinologic topic, Endocrine Disruptors and Puberty is a timely contribution that will help navigate a path toward understanding the problem and developing solutions.

We have built a world that no longer fits our bodies. Our genes - selected through our evolution - and the many processes by which our development is tuned within the womb, limit our capacity to adapt to the modern urban lifestyle. There is a mismatch. We are seeing the impact of this mismatch in the explosion of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. But it also has consequences in earlier puberty and old age.Bringing together the latest scientific research in evolutionary biology, development, medicine, anthropology and ecology, Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson, both leading medical scientists, argue that many of our problems as modern-day humans can be understood in terms of this fundamental and growing mismatch. It is an insight that we ignore at our peril.