Immunology

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND EDITION This book charts the trajectory of the COVID-19 virus, from its emergence in China at the end of 2019 to its rapid worldwide spread. Based on the latest scientific discoveries, Dr Mosley gives you a detailed understanding of the secrets of this c...oronavirus, how it spreads, how it infects your body and how your immune system tries to fight back. Armed with the facts you'll be in a much better position to protect yourself and your family when the world begins to reopen. Dr Mosley also follows the work of leading doctors and virus researchers as they battle to find treatments and a safe and effective vaccine (ultimately, the only way to defeat the virus). Eating well, sleeping soundly, exercising and managing your stress are all critical for keeping your brain, body and immune system in the best possible shape over the coming months. These are areas where Dr Mosley is well known for his science-based and practical approach.
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A thrilling, fact-packed journey of discovery through the body's immune system. The human body is like an exceedingly well-fortified castle, defended by billions of soldiers essential in protecting us from disease. This hidden army is our immune system, and without it we could no...t survive the eternal war between us and our microscopic enemies. In Immune, Catherine Carver provides an entertaining, intriguing, and accessible account of the body's defenses against disease. Immune explores the incredible arsenal that lives within us--how it knows what to attack and what to defend, and how it kills everything from the common cold to the plague bacterium. We see what happens when the immune system turns on us, and conversely how impossible life is without its protection. We learn how diseases try to evade the immune system, how they exploit vulnerabilities and even subvert it to their own advantage, and we discover how scientists are designing new drugs to harness the power of the system to advance medicine in the 21st century. Some of the topics explored include why are so many people allergic to cats, but so few to hamsters? Do transplants ever reject their new bodies? What is pus? How does your body develop new weapons for new enemies? Why is cancer so hard for our immune system to fight? How does our immune system remember? Why did the 1918 flu pandemic kill mainly young, healthy people? Why did the 2009 swine flu outbreak lead to a spike in sleep disorders? Can we smell someone else's immune system, and does that help us subconsciously decide who we fall in love with? Drawing on everything from ancient Egyptian medical texts to cutting-edge medical science, the book takes readers on an adventure packed with weird and wonderful facts about their own defense mechanisms, making this both informative and great fun to read.
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Why is the information available about the coronavirus/COVID-19 so confusing? Written by a leading researcher, Understanding Coronavirus is a concise and accessible introduction to all the science and facts you need to understand how the virus works, how it spreads and how it com...pares to other respiratory viruses.
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A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system-the key to health and wellness, life and death.

A book to encourage hope and challenge complacency We may fear terrorist attacks, but in truth humans have always had far more to fear from infections. In 1919, Spanish flu killed over 50 million people, more than died in both world wars combined. In 1950, an estimated 50 million... people caught smallpox worldwide, of whom 10 million died. In 1980, before measles vaccine was widely used, an estimated 2.6 million children died of measles every year.Less than 100 years ago, losing a child to an infection like diphtheria or polio was a dreaded but almost inevitable sorrow faced by all parents, from the richest to the poorest. Today, these killer diseases are almost never seen in industrialised countries, thanks to the development of vaccines. Immunisation has given modern parents peace of mind their ancestors could not imagine.The history of vaccination is rich with trial, error, sabotage and success. It encompasses the tragedy of lives lost, the drama of competition and discovery, the culpability of botched testing, and the triumph of effective, lifelong immunity. Yet with the eradication in the first world of some of humanity's deadliest foes, complacency has set in. We forget the power of these diseases at our peril.This is a book for everyone who wants to understand our past - and cares about our future.PRAISE'An entertaining and engaging work that is sure to delight general readers' Australian Book Review'The ideal handbook for pregnant women, parents, travellers, childcare and aged-care workers, GPs and anyone with an interest in public health' - The Australian'Isaacs explores the understanding of immunity as it develops from the fifth century BC to the present day and thrills us with the progressive successes of each of the 14 vaccines which a child routinely receives today ... The work is authoritative, beguiling, amusing, instructive and inspirational. It deserves a wide readership, including infectious disease experts, other health professionals and, most assur
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