Survival of the Sickest
Subtitle: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
By: Sharon Moalem ; with Jonathan Prince.
Contributors: Prince, Jonathan.
Edition: 1st ed. (1)
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 2007
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9780060889654
Copyright date: 2007
Subjects: Disease susceptibility -- Genetic aspects; Human evolution; Natural selection; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Evolution; Survival -- physiology; Variation (Genetics)
Description: READ IT. 
YOU'RE ALREADY LIVING IT 

Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? l)id a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower vour cholesterol? Why do we age? Whv are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on—or off? 

Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth, from plants and animals to insects and bacteria. 

Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history, Dr. Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. When the option is a long life with a disease or a short one it, evolution opts for disease almost every time. 

Everything from the climate our ancestors in to the crops they planted and ate to their beverage of choice can be seen in our genetic inheritance. But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there. It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health, and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer, healthier lives. 

Survival of the Sickest is filled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth-—and, especially, what that means for us.
--front flap
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-253) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Ironing It Out; title: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the; title: Temperature Go Down; title: The Cholesterol Also Rises; title: Hev, Bud, Can You Do; title: Me a Fava?; title: Of Microbes and Men; title: Jump into the Gene Pool; title: Methvl Madness:; title: Road to the Final Phenotype; title: nut's Life: Why You and Your; title: iPod Must Die; title: Conclusion; title: Acknowledgments; title: Notes; title: Index