Imperial College London
Alternate

Michael A Crawford PhD, FRSB, FRCPath

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Visiting Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)7725 250 541michael.crawford Website CV

 
 
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Location

 

H 3.34Chelsea and Westminster HospitalChelsea and Westminster Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Crawford:2014,
author = {Crawford, MA and Hussein, I and Nyuar, KB and Broadhurst, CL},
journal = {Human Evolution},
pages = {207--227},
title = {The global crisis in brain nutrition and the rise in mental-ill health},
volume = {29},
year = {2014}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - H. sapiens is defined by a large, complex brain. Our genome is 96% identical to that of the chimpanzee, yet our behavior is 96% different. Cerebral expansion cannot be explained by an origin on the African savannah, as expansion requires docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and trace elements such as iodine, selenium, copper, zinc and manganese, all of which are concentrated in the aquatic food webs. These brain-specific nutrients are in poor supply inland, as witnessed by the 2 billion today at risk of iodine deficiency and mental retardation. This century we are seeing a rise in obesity, metabolic syndrome and mental ill-health, especially amongst young people. The rise in mental ill-health is closely following the previous trend for increased cardiovascular disease, moving from the US and EU towards developing countries. The health audits in the EU and UK have put the cost of brain disorders and mental illhealth higher than any other burden of ill health. In the UK, the Department of Health has estimated the cost to be greater than heart disease and cancer combined. Mental ill-health is now predicted to reach the top three in the ranking of the worldwide burdens of ill-health in 6 years' time. This trend cannot be reversed unless the amount of specialist lipid nutrients, especially required by the brain for its growth, structure and function, is increased in global diets. Similarly, reversing poverty and malnutrition requires more attention on increasing brain-specific nutrients, than protein and calories. Evolution does not stand still. The rise in mental ill-health is related to intensive land agriculture and highly processed foods, providing diets nearly devoid of DHA and its accessory micronutrients. If the upward trend in mental ill health continues throughout this century then prosperous, peaceful, cooperative societies will become unreachable for most humans. Increasing mental ill-health represents a serious threat to humanity because it amounts to human de-evolutio
AU  - Crawford,MA
AU  - Hussein,I
AU  - Nyuar,KB
AU  - Broadhurst,CL
EP  - 227
PY  - 2014///
SN  - 0393-9375
SP  - 207
TI  - The global crisis in brain nutrition and the rise in mental-ill health
T2  - Human Evolution
VL  - 29
ER  -
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