Synopses & Reviews
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. In
The War Within Us, well-known author and infectious disease specialist Cedric Mims makes the intricacies of the immune system and infectious diseases less baffling for the general reader and answers the questions of how things work and why. The story is told in terms of the ancient conflict between the invader (the infectious disease) and the defender (the body's immune system) and the strategies and counter-strategies used by both sides, making it a book that is both informative and interesting to read.
The War Within Us is an ideal introduction to the basics of immunity and infection for general readers and students. It also serves as a quick reference book for physicians, researchers, and other health workers.
Key Features:
* Parasite versus host
* The conflict: how we defend ourselves
* The microbe's response to our defence
* How microbes cause disease
* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
* The threat of new diseases
Review
e, with easily recognisable cases from everyday life. It looks at how our bodies work in defending against fighting infection, and how discoveries have changed our understanding of both the immune system and the invaders, both friend and foe." -- BMA Awards 2001
Review
"Mims has written an attractive and brief overview of the current understanding of immunity and infectious disease...the reader is left with a broad understanding of the insidious destructiveness of infectious diseases." -- Nature
"The book is a fascinating read. It combines clinical science and popular medicine, with easily recognisable cases from everyday life. It looks at how our bodies work in defending against fighting infection, and how discoveries have changed our understanding of both the immune system and the invaders, both friend and foe." -- BMA Awards 2001
Synopsis
Tales of wonderbugs, wonderdrugs, death and contagion are regular news items. We have all suffered from and been vaccinated against infectious diseases, but most of us are ignorant about such matters. We do not need to know how a car or a television set works when we use them, but some understanding of how the body responds to microbial invaders is worthwhile. After all, inside every one of us, regularly, there is this war, with no holds barred and death for the loser. It is a personal, intimate affair.
The War Within Us portrays an infectious disease as the result of an armed conflict between the microbial parasite and the host. It is a war that has been going on for millions of years.
Surely we owe it to our own bodies to be interested.
Covers:
* Parasite versus host
* The conflict: how we defend ourselves
* The microbe's response to our defence
* How microbes cause disease
* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
* The threat of new diseases
Synopsis
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. In The War Within Us, well-known author and infectious disease specialist Cedric Mims makes the intricacies of the immune system and infectious diseases less baffling for the general reader and answers the questions of how things work and why. The story is told in terms of the ancient conflict between the invader (the infectious disease) and the defender (the body's immune system) and the strategies and counter-strategies used by both sides, making it a book that is both informative and interesting to read.
The War Within Us is an ideal introduction to the basics of immunity and infection for general readers and students. It also serves as a quick reference book for physicians, researchers, and other health workers.
Key Features:
x Parasite versus host
x The conflict: how we defend ourselves
x The microbe's response to our defence
x How microbes cause disease
x Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
x The threat of new diseases
Synopsis
them, but some understanding of how the body responds to microbial invaders is worthwhile. After all, inside every one of us, regularly, there is this war, with no holds barred and death for the loser. It is a personal, intimate affair.
The War Within Us portrays an infectious disease as the result of an armed conflict between the microbial parasite and the host. It is a war that has been going on for millions of years.
Surely we owe it to our own bodies to be interested.
Covers:
* Parasite versus host
* The conflict: how we defend ourselves
* The microbe's response to our defence
* How microbes cause disease
* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
* The threat of new diseases
Synopsis
e
* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
* The threat of new diseases
Synopsis
nd ourselves
* The microbe's response to our defence
* How microbes cause disease
* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
* The threat of new diseases
About the Author
Cedric Mims began as a zoologist, studying under GP Wells and JBS Haldane at University College, London. He then went to the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London, graduating in 1952. After hospital appointments he spent three years in Uganda studying tropical fevers, and then 16 years in Canberra, Australia, interspersed with two years in the USA. This was followed by a 20-year period in London as Professor of Microbiology at Guy's Hospital Medical School, where his enthusiasm for teaching found its outlet. His entire career has focused on infectious diseases and immunology, and he has produced five books and more than a hundred scientific papers on these subjects. He has four children and nine grandchildren and lives in the Sussex countryside.
Guy's Hospital Medical School, UMDS, London, U.K.
Table of Contents
The Parasite Versus the Host:How We Defend Ourselves:
Surfaces Barriers and the Early Defences.
Immune Defences.
Chinks in the Armour: Things That Go Wrong With Our Defences.
The Microbe's Response to Our Defence:
Breaching the Early Defences.
How to Evade Immune Defences.
The Disease:
From Residents to Big Killers.
How Microbes Cause Disease.
Thumbnail Sketches of Seven Selected Diseases.
What the Future Holds:
The Threat of New Diseases.
Our Answers to Infectious Diseases.
Selected Reading.
Glossary
Index.