Jonathan Prince

¿Fue la diabetes un arma secreta para que los europeos sobreviviesen a la Edad de Hielo? ¿Puede subir los niveles de colesterol tomar el sol en la playa? ¿Por qué los griegos son más peludos que los africanos? ¿podemos oxidarnos hasta morir? ¿Por que nos cogen ganas de orinar cuando tenemos mucho frio? ¿Tomar comida basura en los primeros meses del embarazo puede incrementar las posibilidades de que tu hijo tenga sobrepeso? ¿Por que los japoneses tienen menos tolerancia al alcohol que los occidentales? ¿Por que los afroamericanos tienen mas tendencia a la hipertension que el resto de sus compatriotas? ¿Pueden provocar esquizofrenia los gatos? ¿Por que algunas personas son inmunes al HIV?... Estas son algunas de las provocadoras preguntas a las que responde este libro. La ley del mas debil plantea al lector una nueva y revolucionaria manera de entender las enfermedades. Partiendo de las mas recientes y punteras investigaciones, el libro aborda el origen remoto y la logica evolutiva de determinadas enfermedades, descubre por que se dan en mayor medida en determinadas zonas del mundo y desvela el papel que la evolucion genetica y los habitos culturales tienen en nuestra salud. El resultado es un libro sorprendente, brillante y revelador sobre nuestra salud.

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.So why does disease exist? Moalem proposes that most common ailmentsdiabetes, hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemiacame into existence for very good reasons. At some point they helped our ancestors survive some grand challenge to their existence. Examining human evolution, Moalem reveals the role genetic and cultural differences have played in the health and well-being of various races, including their susceptibility to inherited diseases.With mesmerizing insight and a fresh perspective on medical history, Moalem offers groundbreaking insight into : How diabetes may be a biproduct of a mechanism that helped humans survive the Ice Age Why African Americans living in the north might suffer from vitamin D deficiencies, Why Asians cant drink as much alcohol as EuropeansRevelatory, utterly engaging, and timelyMoalem ponders strongN1, the emerging Avian Flu virusWhy Redheads Feel More Pain and Asians Cant Drink will irrevocably change the way we think about our bodies and ourselves.

In this groundbreaking and absorbing book Dr. Sharon Moalem, delves back into the evolution of man to offer a radical perspective on survival, the human body, and our understanding of disease. Survival of the Sickest will change the way you think about your body. Dr. Moalem investigates peculiar and puzzling features of human biology to reveal the answers to such provocative questions as: Why do we need to pee when were cold? Can a person rust to death? Why are Greeks hairier than Africans? Can the tanning salon lower cholesterol? Why are leeches back in vogue? Can sunglasses cause sunburns? Who gets drunk faster Europeans or Asians? In considering the question of why diseases exist, Dr Moalem proposes that most common diseases came into existence for very good reasons. Diabetes, hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia may all exist because, at some time in our past, they helped our ancestors survive some grand challenge to human existence. In turn, he also discovers that genetic and cultural differences have led to each race having different and unique ways of reacting to their environment and subsequently how they become susceptible to certain diseases. Survival of the Sickest is a book about life yours, ours and every little living thing under the sun. About how we all got here, where were all going and what we can do about it. Revelatory and written in an utterly engaging fashion, Sharon Moalems book will change the way you think about your body.