Doves, Diplomats, and Diabetes (PDF)

Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other lifestyle disorders are a growing health concern in the modern world. Despite decades of research and worldwide efforts, there are no signs of curbing the growing epidemic. It is time to rethink whether there is something fundamentally wrong in our understanding of the origins and the etiology of these disorders.

A probe into evolutionary origins of the disorders is likely to give us new insights into the basic biology behind them. Reviewing prior hypotheses of the evolutionary origins of type 2 diabetes, Dr. Milind Watve takes several important steps toward a radically different perspective. Based on an extensive compilation and reinterpretation of research over the last two decades, Doves, Diplomats, and Diabetes challenges some of the prevalent theories, including whether obesity is central to insulin resistance, whether insulin resistance is central to type 2 diabetes and whether raised blood sugar is the real cause of the diabetic complications.

What emerges is an alternative interpretation of type 2 diabetes and related disorders. Behavior is proposed to be an important driver of endocrine and metabolic state. This book illustrates specific links between behavior and metabolism and demonstrates how the deficiency of certain stone-age behaviors is leading to modern health problems. It demonstrates how brain and behavior regulate glucose dynamics in the body. The concept of behavioral deficiency disorders is a potential paradigm shift that would stimulate research is a new direction. The central arguments in the book are based on substantial backing from epidemiological and experimental evidence, systems-level analysis and mathematical models. In spite of the inherent complexity of the subject the book is written with a style that makes it readable to any reader interested in basic biology, evolution, medicine or health.