Explaining Health Across the Sciences

Preface
Contents
Contributors
Part IHealth Concepts Across Disciplines
1 Understanding Health from an Evolutionary Perspective
	1.1 Introduction
	1.2 Natural Selection and Its Priorities
	1.3 Health, Damage and Repair
	1.4 The Importance of Trade-Offs
	1.5 Inter-Generational Health
	1.6 Conclusion
	References
2 An Evolutionary Analysis of Health
	2.1 Defining Health—An Evolutionary Perspective on the Meaning of Health
		2.1.1 What is Health?
		2.1.2 Aging and Healthspan
		2.1.3 Observing Health
	2.2 Achieving Health: Challenges Confronting Present-Day Medicine
		2.2.1 The Progress of Medicine in Improving Health
		2.2.2 The Modern Health Crisis
		2.2.3 The Marginal Utility of Current Techniques
	2.3 The Evolutionary Approach to Aging and Chronic Disease
		2.3.1 Natural Selection on Aging
		2.3.2 First Proposals of Evolutionary Theories of Aging
		2.3.3 Hamilton Derives the Forces of Natural Selection
		2.3.4 Experimental Implementation of Evolutionary Theories
	2.4 Evolutionary Healthspan Interventions
		2.4.1 Diets Out of Time and Evolutionary Mismatch
		2.4.2 Pharmaceutical Strategies
		2.4.3 The Example of Heart Disease: From Drosophila Hearts to Human Hearts
		2.4.4 Machine Learning in the OMIC Age
	2.5 Unification of Health: The Evolutionary Paradigm for Health Relative to the Prospect of an ‘Integrated Theory of Health’
	References
3 What is a Healthy Body? A Biodemographer’s View
	3.1 Adaptation
	3.2 Happiness
	3.3 Conclusion
	References
4 Biological Health and Homeodynamic Space
	4.1 Introduction
	4.2 Homeodynamic Space
	4.3 Imperfections of the Homeodynamic Space
	4.4 Homeodynamics-Based Pragmatic Definition of Health
	References
5 Healthy Biological Systems
	5.1 Introduction
	5.2 The “Starting Kit”
		5.2.1 Genetic Heritability
		5.2.2 “Epigenetic” Heritability
	5.3 Health Changes Throughout Life
		5.3.1 Health Peak, the Ageing Decline, and Age-Related Diseases
		5.3.2 Healthy Genomics
		5.3.3 Methylomics Changes in Ageing
		5.3.4 Transcriptomics Changes in Ageing
		5.3.5 Metabolomics
	5.4 Modelling Health with Biological Networks
		5.4.1 Network Stability and Robustness
		5.4.2 Networks Dynamics
	References
6 Health in Philosophy: Definitions Abound but a Theory Awaits
	6.1 Introduction
	6.2 On the Lack of a Theory of Health
	6.3 Some Desiderata for a Theory of Health
	6.4 Reconceiving ‘health’ as an Experimental Construct
	6.5 Concluding Remarks: Where to Look and What is Gained from Doing so?
	References
7 Mental Health and Well-Being in Philosophy
	7.1 Introduction: The Problem of Mental Health
	7.2 The Negative View of Health, Part 1. What is Disease?
	7.3 The Negative View of Health, Part 2. Psychiatry
	7.4 The Positive View of Health
	7.5 Mental Health and Well-Being
	7.6 Wren-Lewis and Alexandrova’s Positive Account
	7.7 Agent, Environment and Health
	7.8 Conclusion
	References
8 Health Concepts at Work in Interdisciplinary Fields
	8.1 Concepts of Health in Philosophy of Medicine
	8.2 Health Concepts that May Be at Work in Interdisciplinary Basic and Medical Research
	8.3 Methodology
	8.4 Results
		8.4.1 PubMed Search Strings Associating Proposed Health Concepts-Related Terms and Biological Systems
		8.4.2 PubMed Search Strings Linking Health and Proposed Health Concepts-Related Terms
		8.4.3 PubMed Search Strings Associating Health and Interdisciplinary Research Fields
	8.5 Discussion
	References
9 Health, Ageing, Authenticity and Art
	9.1 Starting on the Back Foot
	9.2 How Do Gerontologists Portray Their Own Ageing?
	9.3 Redefining Health on the Terms of Older People
	9.4 Finding New Portals to Understand Ageing, Health and Flourishing
	9.5 Humanities and Ageing, Cultural Gerontology
	9.6 Illuminating the Grandeur and Richness of Ageing
	9.7 Illuminating the Inner Life
	9.8 Illuminating Theories of Ageing
	9.9 Authenticity, Ageing and Well-Being
	9.10 Mainstreaming HACG into Gerontological Scholarship and Practice
	References
Part IIHealth Across Systems
10 Healthy Mouth: An Odontological Perspective
	10.1 Introduction
	10.2 Structural Aspects of the Healthy Mouth
		10.2.1 The Bony Skeleton
		10.2.2 Temporomandibular Joints
		10.2.3 Masticatory Muscles
		10.2.4 The Lips
		10.2.5 The Palate
		10.2.6 Dental Arches
		10.2.7 Occlusion
		10.2.8 The Teeth
		10.2.9 Gingiva
		10.2.10 Periodontal Ligament
		10.2.11 Oral Mucosa
		10.2.12 Tongue
		10.2.13 Saliva
	10.3 Functional Aspects of the Healthy Mouth
	10.4 Healthy Mouth and Social Factors
	References
11 Cardiovascular Health
	11.1 The AHA Concept of Cardiovascular Health
		11.1.1 Temporality
		11.1.2 Risk
		11.1.3 Which Organs Are Included?
		11.1.4 What is Normal?
		11.1.5 A Better Measurement
	11.2 Genes
		11.2.1 Detecting Pathology
		11.2.2 Discovering Gene Variants Involved in Disease
		11.2.3 Estimating and Reducing of Risk
		11.2.4 Tailoring Drug Treatment
	11.3 Genes and Other Levels of Biology
	11.4 The Idea of Health
	11.5 A Matter of Policy
	11.6 Conclusions
	References
12 Characteristics of Healthy Blood
	12.1 Introduction
	12.2 Characteristics of Healthy Blood
		12.2.1 Components of the Blood
	12.3 Clinical Markers for Health Associated with Blood
	12.4 Blood Components as Markers of Health
		12.4.1 Role of RBC in the Maintenance of Health
		12.4.2 Role of WBC in Maintenance of Health
		12.4.3 Role of Platelets in the Maintenance of Health
	12.5 RBC and Aging
	12.6 Markers of Oxidative Stress in Erythrocytes and Plasma
	12.7 Conclusion
	References
13 Immunity and Health
	13.1 Introduction
	13.2 What is Health?
		13.2.1 Health is a Very Difficult Concept to Define
		13.2.2 Types of Health in View of the Larger Dynamic Concept of Health
		13.2.3 Determinants of Health as a Whole in the Perspective of a Dynamic Concept
	13.3 Immunity Considered in the Perspective of Health
		13.3.1 The Special Case of Resisters to Infections Such as Tuberculosis as an Ultimate Example of the Power of Immunity to Maintain Health
		13.3.2 Covid-19
		13.3.3 Microbiota-Immune Interaction as Another Major Determinant of Health
		13.3.4 The Ultimate Role of Immunity to Avoid Lifelong Chronic Inflammation for the Maintenance of Health
		13.3.5 Vaccination: When Nature is Supplanted by Human Intelligence to Assure Health at All Ages
	13.4 Conclusion
	References
14 What Is a Healthy Microbiome?
	14.1 The Holobiont—An Ecosystem Consisting of the Human Body and Its Microbes
	14.2 The Renaissance of Microbiome Research
	14.3 From Cradle to Grave—Changes in the Microbiome Throughout Life
		14.3.1 Microbial Diversity Increases in Early Life
		14.3.2 Microbial Diversity Decreases in Late Life
	14.4 Are We Losing Our Healthy Microbiome? The Disappearing Microbiota Hypothesis
	14.5 Emerging Links Between the Microbiome and Host Health
		14.5.1 Protection Against Intestinal Infections
		14.5.2 Metabolic Syndrome
		14.5.3 Akkermanisa Muciniphia—A Bacteria with Beneficial Effects on Host Metabolism
		14.5.4 Brain and Nervous System Disorders
		14.5.5 The Immune System—The Mediator of Healthy Microbiomes
	14.6 What is a Healthy Microbiome?
		14.6.1 A Core of Microbial Functions Required for Host Health
		14.6.2 Robustness and Resilience: Important Determinants of Healthy Microbiomes
		14.6.3 Understanding How Microbial Species and Products Shape Host Health
	14.7 Transition to an Understanding of Healthy Microbiomes
		14.7.1 Gathering Evidence from Natural Host-Microbiota Interactions in a Variety of Animals
		14.7.2 Understanding Microbial Functions Affecting Human Health
	14.8 Utilising the Microbiome for Human Health—Hype or Hope?
		14.8.1 Dietary Interventions as Means to Improve the Microbiome
		14.8.2 Microbiome-Based Interventions as a Route to Health
		14.8.3 Bypassing the Microbiome Through Secreted Microbial Metabolites
		14.8.4 The Potential of the Microbiome for Health
	14.9 Moving Towards an Understanding of Healthy Microbiomes
	References
15 Molecular Biomarkers of Health
	15.1 Introduction
	15.2 General Considerations
		15.2.1 Definition of Health
	15.3 Biomarkers
		15.3.1 Molecular Markers of Health
		15.3.2 Biomarkers of Aging and Their Association with Health
		15.3.3 Molecular Markers of Frailty
		15.3.4 Molecular Markers of Mortality
		15.3.5 Markers of Rejuvenation
	15.4 Vulnerability and Recovery Strategies
	15.5 Conclusions
	References
16 The Dynamic Pathosome: A Surrogate for Health and Disease
	16.1 Introduction
	16.2 The Need for a New Paradigm
	16.3 The Dynamic Pathosome
	16.4 The Central Presumption of the Dynamic Pathosome
	16.5 The Pathosome and Bioinformatic Approaches
	16.6 Practical Applications of the Dynamic Pathosome
	16.7 The Pathosome and a New Perception of Health and Disease
	References
17 The Sleep Prism of Health
	17.1 Introduction
	17.2 Sleep
		17.2.1 Definitions
		17.2.2 The Two Models of Sleep
		17.2.3 Sleep Disorders
	17.3 Sleep Health: A New Concept
		17.3.1 Definition
		17.3.2 The Six Dimensions of Sleep Health
		17.3.3 Sleep Health and Longevity
	17.4 Sleep Representations
		17.4.1 Definitions
		17.4.2 Evaluation of Sleep Beliefs and Knowledge
		17.4.3 The Different Models of Sleep Behavior Change
	17.5 Conclusion
	References
18 1974 and All That: A Tale of Two Approaches to Healthy Sexuality
	18.1 A Short History of the Medicalization and Demedicalisation of Homosexuality
	18.2 Gay Politics or Gay Science?
	18.3 Moralizing and Pathologizing
	18.4 Pragmatism Against Intuitions
	18.5 A Hybrid or Normativist View?
	18.6 Conclusion
	References
19 Health in Non-human Organisms
	19.1 Introduction
	19.2 Definition of Organism
		19.2.1 Kingdom-Specific Limitations in Defining Health
	19.3 Levels of Health
	19.4 Categories of Health
		19.4.1 Health as Balance
		19.4.2 Health as Biological Function
		19.4.3 Health as Well-Being
		19.4.4 Health as Ability
	19.5 Suggested Further Developments
	19.6 Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches Analyzed
	19.7 Conclusion
	References
20 Healthy Worms
	20.1 Introduction
	20.2 What is a Healthy Organism?
	20.3 C. elegans as a Model Organism
		20.3.1 Genetic Analysis of Ageing in C. elegans
	20.4 Evaluating Health and Healthspan in C. elegans
	20.5 Genes and Interventions that Regulate Healthspan
	20.6 Conclusion
	References
21 An Environmental Perspective on Health
	21.1 Introduction
	21.2 How Does the Environment Affect Organisms?
		21.2.1 The LNT Fallacy: We Got It Wrong
		21.2.2 The Hormesis Resurgence: From Marginalization to the Mainstream
		21.2.3 A “Little” Stress Can Be Good
		21.2.4 Wellness or Only Disease and Infirmity?
	21.3 What is a Healthy Environment for Living Organisms?
	21.4 Conclusions
	References
22 Social Relations and Health
	22.1 Introduction
	22.2 Defining Social Relations
	22.3 Social Relations and Health Outcomes
		22.3.1 Structural Aspects
		22.3.2 Functional Aspects
		22.3.3 Ask Not (Only) What Others Can Do for You …
	22.4 Mechanisms
		22.4.1 Direct or Indirect Effects?
		22.4.2 Biological Pathways
		22.4.3 Behavioral Pathways
	22.5 Conclusions and Societal Perspectives
	References
23 Kinds of Explanation in Public Health Policy
	23.1 Introduction
	23.2 The Inquiry Thesis
	23.3 Case 1: Tenovir Gel
		23.3.1 The Ethical Dimension
	23.4 Case 2: Male Circumcision Campaigns
		23.4.1 The Ethical Dimension
	23.5 Conclusion
		23.5.1 Holistic Explanations
	References
26 Health and Immortality
	26.1 Is Significant Life Extension Compatible with Good Health?
	26.2 The Limits to Life and the Limits to Health
	26.3 Theories of Mortality
	26.4 Life Extension Implies Constancy, Health Implies Change: Are They Compatible?
	26.5 Killing for Health
	26.6 “And Yet It Moves”. The Denial of Lifespan and Healthspan Limitations and the Possibility of Radical Life Extension (or Biological Immortality)
	References
27 Health and Pro-Longevity Interventions
	27.1 Introduction
	27.2 Could Aging Be Targeted by Drugs?
	27.3 Antioxidants
	27.4 Melatonin
	27.5 Caloric Restriction Mimetics
	27.6 Metformin
	27.7 Rapamycin
	27.8 Aspirin
	27.9 Statins
	27.10 Conclusions
	References
28 Hormesis, Resilience and Mental Health: Enhancing Public Health and Therapeutic Options
	28.1 Introduction
	28.2 Resilience and Brain Health in Early Life
		28.2.1 Neurobiology of Brain Resilience
		28.2.2 Mitochondrial Resilience
		28.2.3 Regional Specificity of Brain Resilience and Vulnerability to Stress: A Neuroimaging Approach
	28.3 Plant Polyphenols Improve Resilience and Brain Health via “Vitagenes”
	28.4 Conclusions
	References
29 Healthy Ageing in the Clinical Setting: Current Concepts and Future Prospects
	29.1 Introduction
	29.2 Technology and the Patient’s Environment
	29.3 Clinical Aspects of Health
	29.4 A ‘Natural’ Environment?
	29.5 Physical Versus Cognitive Functions
	29.6 Cognitive Nutrition
	29.7 Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA)
	29.8 The Role of Positive Psychology in Health
	29.9 Microbiome, an Important Health Determinant
	29.10 Hormetic Interventions for Better Functioning
	29.11 Personalised Medicine and Molecular Pathological Epidemiology
	29.12 Conclusions
	References
Part IVConclusions
30 How is ‘Health’ Explained Across the Sciences? Conclusions and Recapitulation
	30.1 Introduction
	30.2 Extracting Insights
		30.2.1 Assessing the WHO Amid Negative and Positive Views of Health
		30.2.2 Homeostasis: Traditional and Nuanced
		30.2.3 Health as Evolutionary Adaptability
		30.2.4 Health and Adaptation in the Context of Aging, Healthspan and Hormesis
		30.2.5 Taking a Stab at ‘Health’ in General
		30.2.6 Forms of Health Explanations
	30.3 Looking Ahead
Index