An acquired characteristic is a non-heritable change in a function or structure of a living organism caused after birth by disease, injury, accident, deliberate modification, variation, repeated use, disuse, misuse, or other environmental influence.
Inheritance of acquired characteristics was historically proposed by renowned theorists such as Hippocrates, Aristotle, and French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
When diseases are caused by environmental influences, such as iodine deficiency or lead poisoning, their resultant symptoms are unequivocally agreed to be acquired characteristics.
However, it is debatable whether changes in bodily functions due to disorders that are partly or wholly genetic in origin are actually "acquired".
[10] The consensus on whether certain prenatal spontaneous mutations and genetic disorders that occur as a result of meiotic and chromosome errors[11] or during cell division after conception, like cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome, are considered to be acquired or inherited[12] is unclear.
[13] These genetic errors can affect the mind as well as the body and can result in schizophrenia,[14][15] autism,[11] bi-polar disorder,[16] and cognitive[17] disabilities.
The definitions of inherited and acquired characteristics leave a gray area for trauma, pre-existing and gestational maternal conditions that affect the fetus, as well as chemical and pathogen exposures and trauma that happen before and while an organism is born, such as AIDS, syphilis, Hepatitis B, chickenpox, rubella, unregulated gestational diabetes, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Physical acquired characteristics can stem from various environmental influences such as disease, modification, injury, and regular or infrequent use of body parts.
"[21] Only through vast experience in the natural world can humans learn to recognize objects in all of the various orientations in which we encounter them on a day-to-day basis.
While all types of asbestos fibers are known to cause serious health hazards in humans,[24][25][26] Worth noting is the importance of prenatal nutrition to proper mental and physical development.
[27] It is hypothesized to have something to do with changes induced in the mother's body when gestating a boy that affects subsequent sons, possibly an in-utero maternal immune response.
"It is posited that the absence of exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses is playing a significant role in the development of autoimmune diseases in the more sanitized Western industrialized nations.
"[37] "Immunological diseases, such as eczema and asthma, are on the increase in westernized society and represent a major challenge for 21st century medicine.
For infectious, environmental, and genetically predisposed conditions, lifestyle choices such as exercise, nutrition, stress level, hygiene, home and work environments, use or abuse of legal and illegal drugs, and access to healthcare (including an individual's financial ability and personal willingness to seek medical attention) especially in the early stages of an illness all combine to determine a person's risk factors for developing a disease or condition.
The World Food Program and UNICEF reported last year that chronic malnutrition had left 42 percent of North Korean children stunted — meaning their growth was seriously impaired, most likely permanently.
In 2010, the late Christopher Hitchens put the difference at six inches in an article in Slate, titled "A Nation of Racist Dwarfs".
Today, according to the World Food Programme, "one in every three children [in North Korea] remains chronically malnourished or 'stunted', meaning they are too short for their age".Trauma is "a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident,"[42] or, more simply put, is "a physical wound or injury, such as a fracture or blow.
This is typically thought to be due to an injury to the linguistic center of the brain causing speech impairment that just happens to sound like a person's non-native language.