Consider the stress-disease connection discussed by Dr. Gabor Maté. In the reading, Mate pointed to studies that demonstrate that adaptations to stress help us in the short term but cause us illness in the long term. How does this work? What is the HPA axis and what role does it play in illness? What are the risk factors for chronic illness? What role do emotions play in this?
How do Mate’s findings relate to what Kuzawa introduced in the article Epigenetics and the Embodiment of Race? What is epigenetics? How does it work? What is the link between epigenetics and adult CVD? Explain the origins of the prevalence of low birth weight in African American children. What factors in the lives of African American mothers affect this statistic? How is this trend transmitted across generations? What is the relationship between low birth rate, CVD, race, and epigenetics? What does epigenetics teach us about race?
Now consider the Unnatural Causes film In Sickness and in Wealth. What is the connection between wealth and health? What is the wealth-health gradient? How do the lives of the people discussed in the film exemplify this? What is the major factor at work here?
How does the film relate to the two articles? What is the second epidemiological transition and how does this inform our current susceptibilities to disease? What does this teach us about our current evolutionary path?