TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolution of blood pressure regulation in humans
AU - Young, J. Hunter
N1 - Funding Information:
I am indebted to my collaborators on the original work: Yen-Pei C. Chang, James Dae-Ok Kim, Jean-Paul Chre-tien, Michael J. Klag, Michael A. Levine, Christopher B. Ruff, Nae-Yuh Wang, and Aravinda Chakravarti. I owe a special thanks to Chris Ruff who contributed heavily to my understanding of human evolution and climatic adaptation. This work was supported by the National Institute of Health through a research career award K23RR16056; the American Heart Association through a Scientist Development Award 0130307N; and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine through an Institutional Research Grant (to JHY and AC).
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - The human propensity for hypertension is a product, in part, of our evolutionary history. Adaptation to climate, first in Africa and then throughout the world, has driven our evolution and may have shaped current patterns of hypertension susceptibility. This article reviews human evolution and the impact of climatic adaptation on blood pressure physiology. Evidence suggests that genetic susceptibility to hypertension is ancestral and was magnified during early human evolution. Furthermore, differential susceptibility among human populations is due to differential selection during the out-of-Africa expansion 30,000 to 100,000 years ago. The most important selection pressure was climate, which produced a latitudinal cline in hypertension susceptibility. Therefore, the current epidemic of hypertension is likely due to new exposures with ancestral period (eg, higher salt intake) interacting with ancestral susceptibility. Worldwide populations may differ in susceptibility to the new exposures, however, such that those from hot, arid environments are more susceptible to hypertension than populations from cold environments.
AB - The human propensity for hypertension is a product, in part, of our evolutionary history. Adaptation to climate, first in Africa and then throughout the world, has driven our evolution and may have shaped current patterns of hypertension susceptibility. This article reviews human evolution and the impact of climatic adaptation on blood pressure physiology. Evidence suggests that genetic susceptibility to hypertension is ancestral and was magnified during early human evolution. Furthermore, differential susceptibility among human populations is due to differential selection during the out-of-Africa expansion 30,000 to 100,000 years ago. The most important selection pressure was climate, which produced a latitudinal cline in hypertension susceptibility. Therefore, the current epidemic of hypertension is likely due to new exposures with ancestral period (eg, higher salt intake) interacting with ancestral susceptibility. Worldwide populations may differ in susceptibility to the new exposures, however, such that those from hot, arid environments are more susceptible to hypertension than populations from cold environments.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11906-007-0004-8
DO - 10.1007/s11906-007-0004-8
M3 - Review article
C2 - 17362666
AN - SCOPUS:34047252306
SN - 1522-6417
VL - 9
SP - 13
EP - 18
JO - Current hypertension reports
JF - Current hypertension reports
IS - 1
ER -