title: Osteoporosis: an evolutionary perspective.
abstract: Increased life expectancy has led to an overall aging of the population and greater numbers of elderly people. Therefore, the number of people with osteoporosis has increased substantially, accompanied with an epidemic of hip fractures. Osteoporosis is an age-related systemic condition that naturally occurs, among mammals, only in humans. Osteoporosis is known to be highly heritable. However, assuming a genetic determinant for this post-reproductive disease to be transmitted from one generation to the next is counter-intuitive, based on the principles of human evolution, I will attempt to provide an explanation of the phenomenon from the point of view of evolution, selection, and changed environment in humans, which contributed to human longevity, while on other hand, contribute to diseases of civilization, including osteoporosis. There is a need to delve into evolution of human species in search for adaptive patterns to a specific environment that humans are operating in the last couple of millennia, to clarify whether "good" and "bad" genes exist, and how to find and correct them. The answer to the above questions will help us to identify causes of the current epidemic of osteoporosis and to pin-point a tailored treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife and Harvard Medical School, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131, USA. karasik@hrca.harvard.edu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karasik
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 2004 Feb;19(2):265-9
references.pmid: 14969396
references.citation: Histochem J. 2001 Jan;33(1):19-24
references.pmid: 11352397
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1991 Apr 29;332(1262):15-24
references.pmid: 1677205
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 1999 Sep;14(9):1473-7
references.pmid: 10469274
references.citation: Am J Hum Biol. 2001 Jul-Aug;13(4):434-52
references.pmid: 11400215
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2000 Jul;112(3):349-61
references.pmid: 10861352
references.citation: PLoS Med. 2007 Jun;4(6):e199
references.pmid: 17579509
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Feb;81(2):341-54
references.pmid: 15699220
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 2000 Dec;15(12):2297-304
references.pmid: 11127194
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2003 Jan 2;348(1):50-8
references.pmid: 12510043
references.citation: ACP J Club. 2007 Jul-Aug;147(1):22
references.pmid: 17608387
references.citation: BMC Med Genet. 2007 Sep 19;8 Suppl 1:S14
references.pmid: 17903296
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 1998 May 1;147(9):871-9
references.pmid: 9583718
references.citation: Osteoporos Int. 2007 Sep;18(9):1235-42
references.pmid: 17406766
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 1995 Feb;10(2):175-7
references.pmid: 7754796
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2000 Oct;113(2):263-74
references.pmid: 11002208
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Apr;92(4):1491-501
references.pmid: 17213281
references.citation: JAMA. 2008 Mar 19;299(11):1277-90
references.pmid: 18349089
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 2000 Apr;15(4):710-20
references.pmid: 10780863
references.citation: Calcif Tissue Int. 2005 Sep;77(3):167-74
references.pmid: 16075362
references.citation: Eur J Endocrinol. 2004 Mar;150(3):323-8
references.pmid: 15012617
references.citation: Physiol Genomics. 2007 Jan 17;28(2):146-57
references.pmid: 17032813
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 1995 Oct;10(10):1544-9
references.pmid: 8686511
references.citation: Osteoporos Int. 2002;13(2):97-104
references.pmid: 11905527
references.citation: Drug Discov Today. 2001 Aug 15;6(16):848-858
references.pmid: 11495758
references.citation: Bone. 2007 Mar;40(3):587-96
references.pmid: 17137849
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001 Sep;116(1):34-44
references.pmid: 11536115
references.citation: Ann Hum Genet. 2008 Sep;72(Pt 5):696-714
references.pmid: 18485052
references.citation: Genome Res. 2005 Dec;15(12):1746-58
references.pmid: 16339373
references.citation: PLoS Med. 2006 Apr;3(4):e90
references.pmid: 16475872
references.citation: Mol Aspects Med. 2005 Jun;26(3):145-67
references.pmid: 15811432
references.citation: J Biomech. 1997 Jul;30(7):671-8
references.pmid: 9239546
references.citation: Ann Intern Med. 2006 Aug 15;145(4):255-64
references.pmid: 16908916
references.citation: Lancet. 2005 Jul 9-15;366(9480):129-35
references.pmid: 16005335
references.citation: Bone. 2008 May;42(5):969-81
references.pmid: 18284942
references.citation: J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2005 Jul-Sep;5(3):255-61
references.pmid: 16172516
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jul 24;104(30):12265-9
references.pmid: 17636134
references.citation: Coll Antropol. 2003 Dec;27(2):599-610
references.pmid: 14746148
references.citation: J Theor Biol. 2005 Aug 7;235(3):408-18
references.pmid: 15882703
references.citation: BMC Med Educ. 2005 May 10;5(1):16
references.pmid: 15885137
references.citation: J Biomech. 2000 Nov;33(11):1349-57
references.pmid: 10940393
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2006 Sep 15;20(18):2492-506
references.pmid: 16980579
references.citation: Bone. 1998 Jun;22(6):683-90
references.pmid: 9626409
references.citation: BMC Dev Biol. 2008 Apr 01;8:35
references.pmid: 18380899
references.citation: Evol Dev. 2006 Sep-Oct;8(5):468-76
references.pmid: 16925682
references.citation: Ann Rheum Dis. 2001 Jun;60(6):554-8
references.pmid: 11350841
references.citation: Ann Biomed Eng. 2005 Jan;33(1):3-6
references.pmid: 15709701
references.citation: Osteoporos Int. 1994;4 Suppl 1:7-13
references.pmid: 8081064
references.citation: Exp Gerontol. 2008 Feb;43(2):53-60
references.pmid: 17692487
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 2004 Apr;19(4):552-9
references.pmid: 15005841
references.citation: Nat Genet. 2007 Jul;39(7 Suppl):S30-6
references.pmid: 17597779
references.citation: J Bone Miner Res. 2008 Jun;23(6):788-802
references.pmid: 18269309
references.citation: J Mol Endocrinol. 2001 Apr;26(2):119-25
references.pmid: 11241163
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jun;89(6):2803-10
references.pmid: 15181061