Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine - Softcover

Randolph M. Nesse; George C. Williams

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9780679746744: Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine

Synopsis

The next time you get sick, consider this before picking up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the science of Darwinian medicine argue that illness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design.  Among the concerns they raise:

When may a fever be beneficial?
Why do pregnant women get morning sickness?
How do certain viruses "manipulate" their hosts into infecting others?
What evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder?

Deftly summarizing research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and form cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick, answers these questions and more.  The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay person and medical practitioners alike.

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About the Author

Randolph M Nesse, M.D., is a practicing physcian and professor and associate chair for education and academic affairs in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.

George C. Williams, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the State University at Stony Brook and editor of The Quarterly Review of Biology.

From the Inside Flap

The answers are in this groundbreaking book by two founders of the emerging science of Darwinian medicine, who deftly synthesize the latest research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's and from cancer to Huntington's chorea. Why We Get Sick compels readers to reexamine the age-old attitudes toward sickness. Line drawings.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780812922240: Why We Get Sick:: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0812922247 ISBN 13:  9780812922240
Publisher: Crown, 1995
Hardcover