Module 2 - Evolutionary Medicine is the second module of the cPNI Masters program, taught by Leo Pruimboom with Q&A by Michiel Quetin. It explores the 'why of the how'—using evolutionary principles to understand why diseases arise, how energy economics shaped human physiology, the Cambrian Revolution's impact on complexity, and evolutionary bottlenecks that created current human vulnerabilities.
The module applies Tinbergen's four questions (proximate causation, ultimate causation, ontogeny, phylogeny) to understand disease. It covers: evolutionary constraints and trade-offs explaining why perfect adaptation is impossible; gene-environment mismatch as root cause of modern disease; energy economics and resource allocation (Kirkwood's disposable soma theory); evolutionary bottlenecks (founder effects, genetic drift) creating population vulnerabilities; balancing selection maintaining genetic polymorphisms; and evolution of immune system, brain size, and metabolic systems. Key concepts include evolutionary mismatch, thrifty genotype, antagonistic pleiotropy, and hormesis as evolutionary adaptation mechanism.
Module 2 provides the foundational 'why' for cPNI practice—understanding that chronic diseases reflect evolutionary mismatch, not genetic defects or bad luck. This shifts therapeutic approach from symptom suppression to restoring evolutionary coherence through lifestyle. It explains: why hunter-gatherer populations have minimal chronic disease; why autoimmune conditions are rising (hygiene hypothesis, mismatch); why aging involves trade-offs (reproduction vs longevity); why stress systems malfunction in modernity (designed for acute threats, not chronic psychological stress); and why nutritional, movement, and social interventions work (realigning with evolutionary design). This module is intellectually demanding but provides the philosophical foundation for the entire cPNI approach.
- Taught by Leo Pruimboom, Q&A by Michiel Quetin
- Focus on 'why diseases arise' using evolutionary principles
- Covers energy economics, Cambrian Revolution, evolutionary bottlenecks
- Applies Tinbergen's four questions to understand disease
- Evolutionary mismatch is root cause of most modern chronic diseases
- Thrifty genotype hypothesis explains metabolic disease in modern abundance
- Antagonistic pleiotropy explains aging as trade-off between reproduction and longevity
- Hormesis and NRF2 activation are evolutionary adaptation mechanisms
- Hunter-gatherer lifestyles show minimal chronic disease demonstrating mismatch
- Module provides 'why' foundation for all cPNI interventions
- evolutionary mismatch — Module 2 establishes evolutionary mismatch as central explanatory framework for modern disease
- Leo Pruimboom — Leo Pruimboom is the primary lecturer for Module 2
- Michiel Quetin — Michiel Quetin leads Q&A sessions for Module 2
- energy economics — Module 2 explores how energy economics and resource allocation shaped human evolution
- Cambrian Revolution — Module 2 covers Cambrian Revolution's impact on biological complexity and evolution
- hunter-gatherer — Module 2 uses hunter-gatherer health as baseline for understanding modern mismatch
- thrifty genotype — thrifty genotype hypothesis is key concept in Module 2 explaining metabolic disease
- hormesis — Module 2 explains hormesis as evolutionary adaptation mechanism
- NRF2 — NRF2 pathway is covered as hormetic response to evolutionary stressors
- antagonistic pleiotropy — Module 2 uses antagonistic pleiotropy to explain aging as evolutionary trade-off
- founder effects — founder effects and genetic bottlenecks covered as source of population-specific vulnerabilities
- balancing selection — Module 2 explains how balancing selection maintains genetic diversity and polymorphisms
- hygiene hypothesis — hygiene hypothesis explained in Module 2 as mismatch between evolved immune system and modern sterility
- HDAC inhibitor — Module 2 covers curcumin as HDAC inhibitor demonstrating epigenetic intervention
- epigenetics — Module 2 distinguishes genetic (slow) from epigenetic (fast, modifiable) disease mechanisms
- Module 1 - Introduction — Module 2 builds on Module 1's introduction providing evolutionary 'why' for cPNI framework
- Module 3 - Neuroendocrinology — Module 2's evolutionary perspective underpins understanding of stress axes in Module 3
- genetics — Module 2 explains why genetics change slowly (0.1% per million years) creating mismatch
- inflammation — Module 2 provides evolutionary context for why inflammation becomes chronic in mismatch
- autoimmune diseases — Module 2 explains autoimmune rise through evolutionary mismatch and hygiene hypothesis