The book Evolution and Healing, criticises current medical practice for not adopting a ‘Darwinian ‘ approach to illness. It argues that:

• human beings and their illnesses are the fruits of evolution stretching back millions of years

• symptoms like sneezing, coughing and vomiting have evolved as defences against illnesses

• fever may have become a way to make the body too hot for microbes to survive

• morning sickness may prevent women eating toxic foods which harm the unborn child

• menstruation may help to flush the uterus of harmful microbes delivered by incoming sperm

• reducing fever with aspirin may be prolonging the illness, suppressing what could be a crucial disease-fighting mechanism

The authors of the book also warn that genetic engineering may do more harm than good. They point out that the most common gene defects are now known to have benefits:

• sickle cell anaemia confers immunity against malaria

• white people with cystic fibrosis may have enhanced resistance to cholera and

• the genes which cause diseases of old age such as Alzheimer’s may confer benefits in earlier life

Concerning diet, they argue that:

• physiologically, humans still belong to the Stone Age and would be most healthy eating a diet of wild game, uncultivated nuts, berries and tubers, little or no cereals, dairy products, salt or fat

• cancer and heart disease are not only the products of a metabolism gone wrong, but of living conditions different from those for which our bodies evolved

• today we live long enough for the ravages of modern diet to wreak havoc on our bodies