An Elegant Defense : The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives

作者：MattRichtel

出版社：WilliamMorrow;1edition

副标题：TheExtraordinaryNewScienceoftheImmuneSystem：ATaleinFourLives

出版年：2019-3-12

页数：448

定价：USD17.18

装帧：Hardcover

ISBN：9780062699107

内容简介
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A grand tour of the human immune system and the secrets of health, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist

“One of those rare nonfiction books that transcends the genre. … Extraordinary.” —Douglas Preston

A terminal cancer patient rises from the grave. A medical marvel defies HIV. Two women with autoimmunity discover their own bodies have turned against them. Matt Richtel's An Elegant Defense uniquely entwines these intimate stories with science’s centuries-long quest to unlock the mysteries of sickness and health, and illuminates the immune system as never before.

The immune system is our body’s essential defense network, a guardian vigilantly fighting illness, healing wounds, maintaining order and balance, and keeping us alive. Its legion of microscopic foot soldiers—from T cells to “natural killers”—patrols our body, linked by a nearly instantaneous communications grid. It has been honed by evolution over millennia to face an almost infinite array of threats.

For all its astonishing complexity, however, the immune system can be easily compromised by fatigue, stress, toxins, advanced age, and poor nutrition—hallmarks of modern life—and even by excessive hygiene. Paradoxically, it is a fragile wonder weapon that can turn on our own bodies with startling results, leading today to epidemic levels of autoimmune disorders.

Richtel effortlessly guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to the cutting-edge laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology—perhaps the most extraordinary and consequential medical story of our time. The foundation that Richtel builds makes accessible revelations about cancer immunotherapy, the microbiome, and autoimmune treatments that are changing millions of lives. An Elegant Defense also captures in vivid detail how these powerful therapies, along with our behavior and environment, interact with the immune system, often for the good but always on a razor’s edge that can throw this remarkable system out of balance.

Drawing on his groundbreaking reporting for the New York Times and based on extensive new interviews with dozens of world-renowned scientists, Matt Richtel has produced a landmark book, equally an investigation into the deepest riddles of survival and a profoundly human tale that is movingly brought to life through the eyes of his four main characters, each of whom illuminates an essential facet of our “elegant defense.”

作者简介
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Matt Richtel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and bestselling writer of mysteries and thrillers. His books are fast-paced, character-centered stories in which things are not always as they seem. The backdrop for the books is the modern world. Technology is everywhere. Everything moves at lightning speed, from conspiracy, to love, business, and violence. Technology is our slave. Or has it become our dark master?

The books relate to Matt's journalism. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for a series of stories on distracted driving. The next year, he wrote an acclaimed series for the New York Times called "Your Brain On Computers" exploring how heavy technology use impacts our behavior and our brains.

Matt lives with his family in San Francisco. He writes from an office with a window that looks onto the former house of baseball legend Willie Mays. He — Matt, not Willie — is an avid tennis player, takes pride in making guacamole and coffee, and writes the occasional song.

目录
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Part I Lives in the Balance

Part II The Immune System and the Festival of Life

Part III Bob

Part IV Linda and Meredith

Part V Jason

Part VI Homecoming

评论 ······

Biggest takeaway – There's no way to boost your immunity but to balance it.

第一次知道轻舞飞扬得的是免疫系统疾病。。。

人体好神奇，病毒入侵，健康细胞就会release interferon，interferon的副作用就是让你精疲力竭，你的身体就鼓励自己要休息，然后这样就会增强防御能力。反正记住everything's connected.该吃吃该睡睡，身体最重要嗷～

要不是自己得了不算很严重的自体免疫病，我今年也不会读好几本关于免疫系统的书。免疫系统是如此复杂和精确，只能说连现代医学对它的了解也依然很粗糙。过去我们总把免疫系统比喻成持续不断与病原体战斗的激进系统，其实是错的。过于活跃的免疫会伤害自身造成自体免疫病，免疫系统里也有自我刹车、调解与其他细菌和病毒和谐共处的机制。书里一些病人的例子，在吃一种药压抑/提升了免疫后又无意中带来一系列副作用，又需要另外的药…

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