US REVIEW OF BOOKS, Michael Radon theusreview.com/reviews/The-Origin-of-Disease-by-Carolyn-Merchant-JD-and-Christopher-Merchant-MD.html#.XLBmAehKi5o Containing exciting information and thought, this book could help people find ways to improve or avoid diseases that can dramatically alter lives. This book challenges a lot of accepted thinking in Western medicine, but all truly impactful ideas have to shatter the old to move [thought] forward. [T]he authors identify a pattern of the root causes of chronic illnesses and what can be done to fight maladies that many medical professionals say just happen and have to be lived with. For many people, medical books can be a hard hurdle to jump, but this book is written in an accessible style and format, and contains information useful to the layperson, not just medical professionals. PACIFIC BOOK REVIEW. Anthony Avina pacificbookreview.com/the-origin-of-disease-the-war-within This book does a great job of creating a conversation. It is a detailed, knowledgeable and thorough book filled with fascinating theories that all readers should have the opportunity to explore themselves. This is definitely an interesting book that will fascinate patients suffering from illnesses as well as doctors seeking new answers or medical researchers alike. It is a new perspective that is interesting to see, as the authors relay the causes of various chronic illnesses. The authors command over the medical expertise is both technical and yet relayed easily enough for patients and doctors alike to understand. If you enjoy medical books, suffer from an ailment or are curious about health overall, then you’ll want to grab your copy of The Origin of Disease: The War Within, Today! www.facebook.com/carolyn.merchant/39 www.theoriginofdiseases.com

This book is a history of the diseases of humankind and their causes from earliest times to the present day. It is a tour de force drawing upon the author's extensive work on the history of infection, as well upon evidence drawn from archaeology, history and demography.

While covering human history, civilization, and diseases to reveal why humans are sick with many ailments, this book provides the answers to the questions: "When, why, and how did humans contract all kinds of infectious and chronic diseases?" The increasing occurrence of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, asthma and cancer does not simply denote increment in the incidence of diseases, but a pathological phenomenon that reflects the condition of humanity's current environment. With humanity's graduation from the era of hunter-gatherers, infectious diseases and nutritional disorders started to appear at the beginning of the agricultural revolution. Humanity then shifted to an age of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, asthma, and cancer, as they entered the era of affluence in the wake of the industrial revolution. Moreover, the disease pattern characterized by such chronic diseases is expected to change again soon to a new trend characterized by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. When contemplating the path of disease development and transition, we should simultaneously consider two aspects of humanity: as a biological being who adapts to his or her surrounding environment, and as a cultural creator who transforms and recreates the environment, because the changes in human behavior have as much impact on the direction of disease transition as our genes and environment do. Therefore, only after we appropriately understand the history, environment, and disease development of humanity will we be able to establish an adequate strategy for coping with diseases. We would have the upper hand if we have a better understanding of the origin of diseases. In five sections, this book shows how to understand such diseases through the intertwined process within the wide framework of human history.

Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.

H1N1 ("swine flu"), SARS, mad cow disease, and HIV/AIDS are a few examples of zoonotic diseases-diseases transmitted between humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases are a growing concern given multiple factors: their often novel and unpredictable nature, their ability to emerge anywhere and spread rapidly around the globe, and their major economic toll on several disparate industries. Infectious disease surveillance systems are used to detect this threat to human and animal health. By systematically collecting data on the occurrence of infectious diseases in humans and animals, investigators can track the spread of disease and provide an early warning to human and animal health officials, nationally and internationally, for follow-up and response. Unfortunately, and for many reasons, current disease surveillance has been ineffective or untimely in alerting officials to emerging zoonotic diseases. Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases assesses some of the disease surveillance systems around the world, and recommends ways to improve early detection and response. The book presents solutions for improved coordination between human and animal health sectors, and among governments and international organizations. Parties seeking to improve the detection and response to zoonotic diseases-including U.S. government and international health policy makers, researchers, epidemiologists, human health clinicians, and veterinarians-can use this book to help curtail the threat zoonotic diseases pose to economies, societies, and health.

An updated edition of Jacques Pépin's acclaimed account of the events that transformed a chimpanzee virus into a global pandemic.

"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of government--federal, state, and local--at which these functions would best be handled.