Essay: Erasmus Darwin's unique dinner table

One of the great mysteries of the history of evolutionists is what kind of saw evolutionist Erasmus Darwin used to cut a semi-circle in his dining table so his enormous girth could be accommodated at meal times. Why is it it that prominent evolutionists have been so bad at applied biology?

The evolutionist Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin and like PZ Myers and a significant portion of the leadership of the New Atheist movement he was not particularly good at applied biology (see also: Professor PZ Myers fails his applied biology course and New Atheism leadership's problem with excess weight). Erasmus Darwin is believed to have influenced Charles Darwin when it comes to Charles Darwin's evolutionary beliefs.

An article entitled Darwinism: it was all in the family declares concerning Erasmus Darwin:

“

His love of food (particularly fruits, sugar, cream and butter) was matched by his dislike of exercise, and by the age of 46 he had grown so corpulent that a semi-circle had to be cut out of his dining table to accommodate his girth at meal times.

”

Physical and mental health related problems associated with obesity

Some of the medical conditions associated with obesity include: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, arthritis, cancer, sleep apnea, reproductive problems in women and varicose veins. In addition, medical science research indicates that excess weight impairs brain function.

According to the Mayo Clinic some of the symptoms associated with obesity can include:

Medical science research indicates that excess weight impairs brain function.

“

Difficulty sleeping Snoring Sleep apnea Pain in your back or joints Excessive sweating Always feeling hot Rashes or infection in folds of your skin Feeling out of breath with minor exertion Daytime sleepiness or fatigue Depression

”

Obesity and Alzheimer's disease

A PET scan of the brain of an individual with Alzheimer's disease reveals a loss of function in the temporal lobe.

See also: Obesity and Alzheimer's disease

In 2005, WebMD published:

“

People with diabetes are at particularly high risk of Alzheimer's disease. But now there's strong evidence that people with high insulin levels -- long before they get diabetes -- already are on the road to Alzheimer's disease. As the body becomes more and more overweight, it becomes more and more resistant to the blood-sugar-lowering effects of insulin. To counter this insulin resistance, the body keeps making more insulin... Insulin Triggers Amyloid Buildup High insulin levels are known to cause blood vessels to become inflamed.... One dangerous effect of this insulin-caused brain inflammation is increased brain levels of beta-amyloid. Beta-amyloid is the twisted protein that's the main ingredient in the sticky plaques that clog the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. "What was striking was the magnitude of the effect," Craft tells WebMD. "Inflammation can be a result of amyloid elevations but can also create an environment in which amyloid is made more readily. Inflammation can be both the result and cause of amyloid production."

”

A 2009 health report on a medical study indicated:

“

They compared the brain scan of 94 people in their 70s who were obese & overweight. They found that the obese had lost tissue in the frontal & temporal lobes areas critical for planning & memory. Declines were also seen in areas used for attention & executive functions, long term memory & movement A neurologist Professor Paul Thompson said, “That's a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer's and other diseases that attack the brain. But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer's if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control.”M

”

Health effects of Alzheimer's disease

See also: Effects of Alzheimer's disease on the brain

Alzheimer's disease is "characterised by loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, including degeneration in the temporal lobe and parietal lobe, and parts of the frontal cortex and cingulate gyrus. Some of the primary symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are: memory problems, mood swings, emotional outbursts, brain stem damage which impairs function in the heart, lungs plus causes disruption of various other bodily processes.

An abstract of the medical study entitled Measures to Assess the Noncognitive Symptoms of Dementia in the Primary Care Setting by Brent P. Forester, M.D. and Thomas E. Oxman, M.D. inidcated "Noncognitive symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias include psychosis, mood disturbances, personality changes, agitation, aggression, pacing, wandering, altered sexual behavior, changed sleep patterns, and appetite disturbances. These noncognitive symptoms of dementia are common, disabling to both the patient and the caregiver, and costly."

According to the Center for Neuro Skills:

“

Kolb & Wishaw (1990) have identified eight principle symptoms of temporal lobe damage: 1) disturbance of auditory sensation and perception, 2) disturbance of selective attention of auditory and visual input, 3) disorders of visual perception, 4) impaired organization and categorization of verbal material, 5) disturbance of language comprehension, 6) impaired long-term memory, 7) altered personality and affective behavior, 8) altered sexual behavior.

”

Obesity, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and prevention

For more information please see: Alzheimer's disease and prevention

Weili Xu, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, declared: "Our results contribute to the growing evidence that controlling body weight or losing weight in middle age could reduce your risk of dementia".

For more information see: Alzheimer's disease and prevention