User:Madelynne Dudas/sandbox

Evolutionary Considerations[edit]

The increased vulnerability of osteoarthritis in humans is potentially an evolutionary tradeoff of bipedalism along with other relatively recent evolved traits. .<> This is represented in the prominence of osteoarthritis is a specific few joints such as the first metatarsophalangeal joint.<> As early human ancestors evolved into bipeds, morphological changes occurred in the pelvis, hip joint and spine. <> This resulted in the center of gravity being closer to the hip joint increasing specific vulnerability to the joint because the gait of modern Homo sapiens is more energy efficient then some recent ancestors.<> Also, genetic morphological variations that predispose some humans to osteoarthritis were likely not selected against because most often, the effects of variation only substantially decrease mobility after the reproductive life stage, therefore, not impacting reproductive success. <<van der Kraan, P., van den Berg, W. “Osteoarthritis in the context of ageing and evolution: Loss of chondrocyte differentiation block during ageing.” Ageing Research Reviews 7(2):106–113 Evolutionary constraints contribute to osteoarthritis because the evolution of the basic bone and cartilage joint model evolved long before Homo sapiens. <>