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摘要
摘要
We think of disease as our enemy, something we try to eradicate; germs and infections are things we battle. But in this witty, engaging book, evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk reveals that, in fact, disease is our partner, not our foe, and is responsible for everything from how we look to how we have sex.
Since the earliest days of life on earth, disease has evolved alongside us. Drawing on the latest research and studies, Zuk explains the role of disease in answering a fascinating range of questions such as: Why do men die younger than women? Why does the average male bird not have a penis? Why do we--and lots of other animals--get STDs? How is our obsession with cleanliness making us sicker? And how can parasites sometimes make us well?
Using her own work on sexual selection as well as a sampling of stories from the natural world, Zuk makes us reconsider the fearsome parasite.
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Kirkus评论
You are what infests you--and that's not all bad, declares Zuk (Biology/UC-Riverside). This latest take on the hot field of evolutionary biology reviews scores of studies to suggest that all creatures great and small have always had to contend with parasites that need to live on the rest of us. As a result, we have co-evolved, honing our immune systems to control them, even as the bugs develop countermeasures. So don't even think of trying to sterilize everything around you; those very antibacterial potions may have contributed to the explosion of allergies and asthma as the immune system, lacking its normal stimuli, latches on to pollen or other innocuous matter. Feeding sterile worm eggs to patients with Crohn's disease has actually caused remissions, Zuk reveals, presumably because the immune system targets the eggs rather than becoming hyperinflammatory. And sex may have arisen because the gene mixing when sperm meets egg improves our immune defenses. Moreover, the author cites studies to suggest that when females choose the big antlers or the brightest coxcombs, it's because they read those as signs of a healthy male; testosterone actually suppresses immunity, so he has to have a really good defense system to start with if he is to invest in all that showmanship. Later chapters present fascinating material on how parasites can alter hosts' behavior, e.g., the spider that spins a tent to cocoon its infested wasp larva, along with speculation that humans may show personality changes from parasitic effects on the brain. As new diseases like AIDS and SARS emerge, and old diseases like tuberculosis stage a comeback, the author reminds us not to put all our faith in antibiotics, given bacteria's effectiveness in developing resistant strains. Sure, some of this is over the top, and Zuk is certainly not arguing against sanitation, clean water, vaccines and drugs. But her basic point--that parasites will always be with us and not always against us--is well taken. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
摘录
摘录
Chapter 1What do we do when we get sick? The details, of course, depend on the illness, but the immediate and obvious answer is that we try to make ourselves feel better. A cold or bout with the flu usually spurs us to the pharmacy for cough lozenges, aspirin, and decongestants, while an upset stomach means finding a remedy for running to the bathroom. Alleviating the symptoms may not be a permanent cure, but it cant do any harm, right?Not necessarily. Although I dislike the analogies between war and disease, it does help to think of symptoms as the sounds, bullets, and urgent messages coming in from the front, with no indication of whether they are from friend or foe. Wiping them out indiscriminately risks destroying our own troops with friendly fire. In some ways, the Calvinists were rightsuffering can be good for you, though the more modern application of this idea suggests that it is not the soul but the body itself that benefits from pain. The trick is to figure out when that is the case, and when there is no virtue in misery.And what about diseases that do not result from infectious agents like bacteria or viruses, but seem to be a flaw in the factory model? Although some aspects of the human body can seem like a miracle of precision in design, our knees and backs give out and childbirth is not exactly a walk in the park. We have wisdom teeth that cause problems because there is no room for them in our jaws. Genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis persist in the population. We scientists always point to the amazing adaptations of organisms, whether its the design of our eye or a lowly moths wings that mimic leaves so perfectly that they have built-in tatters and stains from bird droppings. If nature does such an incredible job with camouflaging a mere insect, why has she dropped the ball with our vertebrae?A relatively new field, called evolutionary medicine or Darwinian medicine, takes a radically different perspective on health and illness to answer these questions. First articulated by psychiatrist Randy Nesse and evolutionary biologist George Williams, Darwinian medicine places diseases and defects in an evolutionary framework to make sense of the apparent mismatch between the way our bodies often work and the way we would like them to: Natural selection may not have produced diseases like diabetes or arthritis directly, but it has made bodies vulnerable to them for a variety of reasons.DESIGNED BY A COMMITTEEBack and knee problems are the source of enormous amounts of pain, and they cost society millions of dollars in treatments ranging from anti-inflammatory drugs to surgery, lost work time, and insurance payments. Lower back pain alone is said to afflict nearly half of many adult populations at one time or another within a given year. It is not confined to industrialized or even modern-day populations. Evidence of arthritis of the vertebrae and joints can be found in prehistoric hunter-gatherer skeletons, and back problems are Excerpted from Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, and the Parasites That Make Us Who We Are by Marlene Zuk All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.目录
Introduction | p. 1 |
Chapter 1 Why Doctors Need Darwin | p. 13 |
Chapter 2 Friendly Worms and the Price of Victory | p. 38 |
Chapter 3 Not Such a Bad Case | p. 64 |
Chapter 4 The Race with Sex that's Never Won | p. 83 |
Chapter 5 When Sex Makes You Sick | p. 99 |
Chapter 6 The Sicker Sex | p. 123 |
Chapter 7 Parasites and Picking the Perfect Partner | p. 142 |
Chapter 8 When How You Feel is How You Look | p. 180 |
Chapter 9 Taking Care | p. 206 |
Chapter 10 Bad, But Not Weird: The Real emerging Diseases | p. 237 |
Chapter 11 Who's in Charge Here, Anyway? | p. 266 |
Acknowledgments | p. 292 |
References | p. 293 |
Index | p. 316 |