Noting that a normal human body of 10 trillion cells also has 100 trillion bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa on and in...
Benarde covers everything you wanted to know—and some of what you didn’t—about the interactions of humans and the microbes that live with us in this engrossing exploration of the human biome.
Noting that a normal human body of 10 trillion cells also has 100 trillion bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa on and in it, microbiologist Benarde (You’ve Been Had! How the Media and Environmentalists Turned America into a Nation of Hypochondriacs, 2002) treats the human-microbial symbiosis as a (usually) harmonious “supra-organism.” The benefits we derive, he contends, are manifold: microbes in our gut help digest food and produce vitamin K; normal skin bacteria crowd out harmful pathogenic bacteria and secrete substances that kill them; gut microbes can reduce our risk of gastric and bowel cancers and enhance the effectiveness of anti-tumor agents; the species Mycobacterium vaccae appears to cure depression; exposure to a wide variety of microbes in childhood reduces the risk of allergies and autoimmune disorders. Microbes, he continues, are essential to manufacturing our major foodstuffs, from bread to beer and cheese (Limburger cheese uses bacteria normally found on our—urp!—toes); bacteria add nitrogen to soils, digest oil spills and organic pollutants, and enable raindrops to condense from clouds. Benarde also devotes much space to those few delinquent microbes that cause human illness. He traces the histories of the germ theory of disease and antibiotics, describes the deadliest pathogens, from tuberculosis to HIV, and tours frontiers of antimicrobial hygiene, from improved hospital hand-washing to the use of radiation to kill food pathogens. The book sometimes meanders too much, but the author brings together a wealth of scientific lore in prose that’s interesting, accessible, and studded with entertaining historical anecdotes. His enthusiasm for the subject is, er, infectious—“Is that a hellofa jarring thought?” he muses about statistics indicating that we are “more microbial than human”—and he mounts impassioned arguments on policy issues, including stinging attacks on opponents of genetically modified foods and childhood vaccinations. The result is a thought-provoking reconsideration of our relationship with nature at the most intimate level.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5005-7488-8
Page Count: 458
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Useful but disappointingly commonplace tips.
In a follow-up to The End of Illness (2012), which explored how technological advances will transform medicine, Agus (Medicine and Engineering/Univ. of Southern California) restates time-tested but too often overlooked principles for healthy living.
The author outlines simple measures that average citizens can take to live healthier lives and extend their life spans by taking advantage of modern technology to develop personalized records. These would include a list of medical tests and recommended treatments. Agus also suggests keeping track of indicators that can be observed at home on a regular basis—e.g., changes in energy, weight, appetite and blood pressure, blood sugar and general appearance. He advises that all of this information be made available online, and it is also helpful to investigate family history and consider DNA testing where indicated. Along with maintaining a healthy weight, Agus emphasizes the importance of eating a balanced diet, with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and a minimum of red meat. Avoid packaged vitamins and food supplements, and if possible, grow your own vegetables or buy frozen vegetables, which will generally be fresher than those on supermarket shelves. The author also warns against processed foods that make health claims but contain additives or excessive amounts of sugar or fat. Regular mealtimes and plenty of sleep, frequent hand-washing and oral hygiene are a must; smoking and excessive time in the sun should also be avoided. Agus recommends that adults should consider taking statins and baby aspirin as preventative measures. He concludes with a decade-by-decade checklist of annual medical examinations that should be routine—e.g. blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol screenings, from one’s 20s on; colonoscopies, prostate exams and mammograms later—and a variety of top-10 lists (for example, “Top 10 Reasons to Take a Walk”).
Useful but disappointingly commonplace tips.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-3095-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Oncologist Agus (Medicine and Engineering/Univ. of Southern California) predicts that the application of advanced technology for modeling complex systems will transform 21st-century medicine.
The author writes that a remark Nobel Laureate Murray Gell-Mann made to him in 2009—“Look at cancer as a system"—transformed the way he views his own specialty and the entire field of preventative medicine. It made him realize that “[r]ather than honoring the body as the exceedingly complex system that it is, we keep looking for the individual gene that has gone awry, or for the one ‘secret’ that can improve our health.” Agus writes that although the ability to sequence the entire human genome is a great step forward, it is insufficient for achieving a significant breakthrough. Even though it may start with a mutation, cancer “is a dynamic process that's happening…far from the confines of a static piece of DNA”—it involves the body's immune system, its ability to regulate cell growth, metabolism and more. Agus directs his university’s Center for Applied Molecular Medicine and is the co-founder of two personalized medicine companies, Applied Proteomics and Navigenics. His hope is that their research will contribute to developing better analytical tools for preventative medicine and for the treatment of cancers. These will address the functioning of the body as a whole, applying digital technology already used by physicists to provide virtual models of cancers and model the action of proteins that regulate cell communication in the body. He also hopes to develop tools that will provide information on the concentration of different proteins in a drop of blood taken from a patient, which may reveal the onset of disease. The author also includes some guiding principles and warnings about certain healthy practices that may not be so healthy. A refreshing change of pace in the medical field, but by venturing beyond his field of expertise to pontificate on a wide range of subjects, Agus makes his otherwise intriguing narrative difficult to follow.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1017-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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