Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers the Surprising Connections Between Disease and Longevity
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-31 05:51:27
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Sharon Moalem
- ISBN：0060889667
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Summary
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。 Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history， Dr。 Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes。 But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there。 It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health， and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer， healthier lives。
Reviews
Karrarabd
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كتاب له صيت وشهرة واسعة والحقيقة هو جيد لكن ليس بمستوى شهرته ثلاثة فصول تعنى بالعنوان اما الباقي فهو غير العنوان يفتقر للمصادر وايضا بعض الامور تثير الشك وتحتاج الى ادلة اكثر 。。。الامر كله برأيي لا يتعدى كونه تفسيرات بعنوان الاطروحة او الفرضية فليس هناك شيء مثبت مائة بالمائة حتى نظرية التطور التي يعتقد بها
Emily Yang
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医学爽文
Rong Xu
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I hate bio。 But it's fine this book was interesting。。。 ig I hate bio。 But it's fine this book was interesting。。。 ig 。。。more
VJK
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this was an extra credit reading in biology for Brooke。 Heavy on evolution but some interesting facts non-the-less。
Melanie
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Read for AP Bio
Christi Winkelman
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Being sick is no fun， and at times a huge risk。 But what if we could take a step back and ask - what does it mean to be healthy and why have does it seem that we have evolved with so many chronic illnesses and susceptible to so many diseases？This was an enjoyable read and provided a thoughtful discussion on instead of fighting what we have inherited， to live a longer and healthier life we should incorporate our natural survival abilities into modern health practices。 “Life is in a constant state Being sick is no fun， and at times a huge risk。 But what if we could take a step back and ask - what does it mean to be healthy and why have does it seem that we have evolved with so many chronic illnesses and susceptible to so many diseases？This was an enjoyable read and provided a thoughtful discussion on instead of fighting what we have inherited， to live a longer and healthier life we should incorporate our natural survival abilities into modern health practices。 “Life is in a constant state of creation。 Evolution isn’t over-it’s all around you， changing as we go。” 。。。more
Horace Derwent
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shitmaybe I'm a yellow Neanderthal that'd derived from a water ape shitmaybe I'm a yellow Neanderthal that'd derived from a water ape 。。。more
Optimelprime
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This book。 Holy guacamole so much to process！ I loved this。 Did you know there’s research on the cancer genes that might unlock which cancers you are predisposed too soon？ Did you know that based on the research into progeria we might potentially be able to stop aging （made me immediately think of unwind by shushterman。）？ There is a whole facet of the scientific community that does not believe we evolved in the cradle of civilization savannah style from monkeys， that they believe that so many of This book。 Holy guacamole so much to process！ I loved this。 Did you know there’s research on the cancer genes that might unlock which cancers you are predisposed too soon？ Did you know that based on the research into progeria we might potentially be able to stop aging （made me immediately think of unwind by shushterman。）？ There is a whole facet of the scientific community that does not believe we evolved in the cradle of civilization savannah style from monkeys， that they believe that so many of our aquatic mammal features are because we are descendant of monkeys who lived on an island！ What？ I loved how it challenged my brain and gave me so much to contemplate。 Read this book！ You will not regret it。 5/5 stars #libbyapp #2022readingchallenge 。。。more
Cynthia Livingston
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I was generally disappointed overall， although some topics were really interesting - hemochromatosis （a genetic factor） and the role of iron in nearly every function of our metabolism。 The topic touched on the Vikings， the founder effect， and bloodletting。 Hemochromatosis is the first most common genetic disease in people of European ancestry， followed by cystic fibrosis where about 2% of people with that heritage are carriers。 The diabetes chapter was interesting， and in the cholesterol chapter I was generally disappointed overall， although some topics were really interesting - hemochromatosis （a genetic factor） and the role of iron in nearly every function of our metabolism。 The topic touched on the Vikings， the founder effect， and bloodletting。 Hemochromatosis is the first most common genetic disease in people of European ancestry， followed by cystic fibrosis where about 2% of people with that heritage are carriers。 The diabetes chapter was interesting， and in the cholesterol chapter I was surprised to learn that people with the ApoE4 gene variant often have cranked up cholesterol levels - this gene variant is more common throughout Northern Europe it is alleged it helped compensate for limited ultraviolet exposure - downside being a link to a higher risk of Alzheimers。 Lots of short chapters， if you don't like lava beans/favism， Guinea Worms， etc just move on。 I thought the second half of the book was weaker and didn't really hold my attention。 。。。more
Caitlin Taylor
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this book was so good。 like it was required for ap bio but it was so good anyway。 at first i thought i didn’t like the writing style because the author jumps all over the place， but it ended up working pretty well。 it’s also full of complex subjects， but he writes so well that anyone could read and understand it。 everything was so fascinating and i feel smarter after reading it lol
Morag
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Love this book。 It's the second time around for me and all the more gripping because of Covid 19 - not that it mentions Covid but in general terms， knowing that infections sometime mutate and become less virulent so that people are able to walk about spreading them， gives a fascinating insight into the possible mechanism of the Omicron variant。 All conjecture on my part， but i'd recommend this book to anyone with a layman's interest in evolutionary selection Love this book。 It's the second time around for me and all the more gripping because of Covid 19 - not that it mentions Covid but in general terms， knowing that infections sometime mutate and become less virulent so that people are able to walk about spreading them， gives a fascinating insight into the possible mechanism of the Omicron variant。 All conjecture on my part， but i'd recommend this book to anyone with a layman's interest in evolutionary selection 。。。more
Becca！
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Survival of the Sickest is one of the first long nonfiction books I have read， absorbing every page！！ I was fascinated by many parts of this book， and often stopped to take some personal notes so I could commit the science to memory。。。 This book made me marvel at the whole ecosystem。 From frogs， to mice， cats， and humans， I was fascinated to learn about how everything ticks。 This book inspired the purchase of my second nonfiction book， and hopefully many more。 This was a particularly easy read， Survival of the Sickest is one of the first long nonfiction books I have read， absorbing every page！！ I was fascinated by many parts of this book， and often stopped to take some personal notes so I could commit the science to memory。。。 This book made me marvel at the whole ecosystem。 From frogs， to mice， cats， and humans， I was fascinated to learn about how everything ticks。 This book inspired the purchase of my second nonfiction book， and hopefully many more。 This was a particularly easy read， and I am now on the search for other nonfiction books that lay down the facts with evidence， while using terminology for the common person。 So cool！！！ 。。。more
JMA
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Interesting questions and thought lines。 I appreciated how he wrote as well， significant emphasis on analogies that increased understanding。
Katherine
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This book was entertaining and fun to read。 I originally got the book because my AP science teacher told me it would be a good book to read to improve my genetics and evolution knowledge。 This book brings up many important topics like diabetes，alztimers， and sickle cell anemia。 The book is somthing I would recommend to many people if and only if you are a science person。 As much as I loved the book I only understood it because I was in an AP class and we talked about the book multiple times and This book was entertaining and fun to read。 I originally got the book because my AP science teacher told me it would be a good book to read to improve my genetics and evolution knowledge。 This book brings up many important topics like diabetes，alztimers， and sickle cell anemia。 The book is somthing I would recommend to many people if and only if you are a science person。 As much as I loved the book I only understood it because I was in an AP class and we talked about the book multiple times and we used the scientific names that were used in class。 Now about the book I really enjoyed reading it I wouldn’t stay up all night reading it because you need to be fully awake to understand the book but I would definitely reread this book。 In conclusion this is a good book to read if you are the science nonfiction reading person。 。。。more
Claire
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hehe bio book。 real cool。 learned out to get tan af
Maria
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I started reading this in spring of 2020， read to page 123， and got kind of tired of it so I moved onto another book and put this one on my dnf shelf。 I recently needed something to bring with me to school that wasn't as big as Rule of Wolves， so I decided to finish it。 I don't generally like non-fiction， but this was actually pretty interesting。 I started reading this in spring of 2020， read to page 123， and got kind of tired of it so I moved onto another book and put this one on my dnf shelf。 I recently needed something to bring with me to school that wasn't as big as Rule of Wolves， so I decided to finish it。 I don't generally like non-fiction， but this was actually pretty interesting。 。。。more
Hannah
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It was very informational and always made me want to keep reading to figure out why to each of their questions。
Allison
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I found this book a little bit odd。 There's a sarcastic tilt to the writing which makes it very readable for a pop science book， but also feels odd tone-wise at times。 Still， the author did a good job of explaining the different topics discussed in the book。 However， I felt both that there were a lot of random tangents and also that many of the claims the author made didn't feel so credible。 Moalem seems to have some contempt for scientists who he doesn't feel are "open" to new ideas。2。5 stars I found this book a little bit odd。 There's a sarcastic tilt to the writing which makes it very readable for a pop science book， but also feels odd tone-wise at times。 Still， the author did a good job of explaining the different topics discussed in the book。 However， I felt both that there were a lot of random tangents and also that many of the claims the author made didn't feel so credible。 Moalem seems to have some contempt for scientists who he doesn't feel are "open" to new ideas。2。5 stars 。。。more
Christine
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I mean。。。ig this book was sorta ok 😺 There were some anecdotes that were actually interesting to read about， but that was leveled out by the fact that the chapters seemed so unorganized and messy。 Like they would jump from idea to idea without transitions that were good enough to help the reader understand the connections well。 Mb if ur used to reading science-y language， the transitions the author wrote will be enough ？ But for me， they did not do the job。 I’d start a section of a chapter like I mean。。。ig this book was sorta ok 😺 There were some anecdotes that were actually interesting to read about， but that was leveled out by the fact that the chapters seemed so unorganized and messy。 Like they would jump from idea to idea without transitions that were good enough to help the reader understand the connections well。 Mb if ur used to reading science-y language， the transitions the author wrote will be enough ？ But for me， they did not do the job。 I’d start a section of a chapter like “oh ok I understand this so far” but then by the end of that section， I’m like “huh ？？！？！？？” The author shoved in so so much info into each chapter in an attempt to make the book seem complex and deep and all but the execution was not there。Would not have read this book if it wasn’t a required summer assignment book ❤️ I’d much rather read scientific articles about each topic bc at least articles would be centered around something specific。 。。。more
Beyond Dionne
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Read for school。 Everything seem speculative: “this may be why” … no sources
Laney
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I found this book extremely interesting。 It wasn’t the definition of a quick read because you had close attention to each topic， but it was generally not too difficult to understand in comparison to most books about science。 Some things were a little repetitive， but it helped you to truly learn the information。 This book made me much more interested in the idea of evolution and biology in its entirety， so I am very glad I had to read it for a class。 That being said， some other reviews here on go I found this book extremely interesting。 It wasn’t the definition of a quick read because you had close attention to each topic， but it was generally not too difficult to understand in comparison to most books about science。 Some things were a little repetitive， but it helped you to truly learn the information。 This book made me much more interested in the idea of evolution and biology in its entirety， so I am very glad I had to read it for a class。 That being said， some other reviews here on goodreads have said that not all information in this book is true and much of it is still under investigation and needs more intensive research， so take all of it with a grain of salt。 All in all， it was a good read。 。。。more
rhonda
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a mind openerReading this book for my so biology was certainly a journey and I can't say I enjoyed the assignment。 But I did however ， enjoy the book greatly。 It was extremely thought provoking and provided me with a lot of stuff to think about。 I think everyone should read this book， it's too great to not read。 a mind openerReading this book for my so biology was certainly a journey and I can't say I enjoyed the assignment。 But I did however ， enjoy the book greatly。 It was extremely thought provoking and provided me with a lot of stuff to think about。 I think everyone should read this book， it's too great to not read。 。。。more
EMMANUEL
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I really am so confused of what the purpose of this book was。 And。 For。。。 Here。 Let me provide a more clear understanding of what I am trying to have understood。 The context of this book， is very much factors of diseases， sicknesses， and illnesses that are already understood as developing sicknesses that are becoming more easily contractable and more commonly found in society。 Basically。。。 the epidemiology of specific medical diagnosed illnesses are being more prevalent in of today's society bec I really am so confused of what the purpose of this book was。 And。 For。。。 Here。 Let me provide a more clear understanding of what I am trying to have understood。 The context of this book， is very much factors of diseases， sicknesses， and illnesses that are already understood as developing sicknesses that are becoming more easily contractable and more commonly found in society。 Basically。。。 the epidemiology of specific medical diagnosed illnesses are being more prevalent in of today's society because of the given factors that are of everyday reality。 Of the easily accessible commodities。 Like food。 Persons diets。 Now that is understood。 And。 This book is completely just this context ideology。 What I still haven't had understood。。。 is the purpose of this book。 Like。 I know talking about （Right）， factors of society that are of concerns for our societal survival。 But。 Having such conversation for so long （its been decades）， and the ideological topics of these conversations have only become more dramatic in of the prevalence （more people are becoming sick and are being the statistic that validates their political assertions）。 What I'm trying to have understood is， "When is it that pretending is going to have a rude awakening in sight of how oblivious society defaulted their self in of about these illnesses。 These life threatening realities。" I thought this book was going to provide context of what and how these factors are being addressed to control the onset prevalence rate。 But。 This book just completely advocated and reinforced that nothing is going to be done， and that more people are going to become victims to this political neglect。 This political thought that is obviously being used to secretly terrorize， to the extent， secretly murder innocent people。 To secretly murder vulnerable people。 。。。more
Melinda Harrison
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Wonderful readWritten in easily understood terms。 Great insights into our adaptation and development to the environment。 Great book！ I highly recommend
Cath Lloyd
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It helped me really understand how are bodies adapt to our environments and why we all react differently to lifestyle and disease。
Gincy George
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Loved reading this one
Hunybadger
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Some of the hypotheses seem stretched to fit but that's not what I enjoyed about this book。 It was the combining of seemingly unrelated illnesses/diseases/mutations and drawing connections between them。 This book made me stop and think。 Regardless of whether I agreed with the outcome， it's the 'thinking' that is important。 That said， the stronger arguments are in the beginning。 I would have shortened the book and added a epigenetics epilogue。 Some of the hypotheses seem stretched to fit but that's not what I enjoyed about this book。 It was the combining of seemingly unrelated illnesses/diseases/mutations and drawing connections between them。 This book made me stop and think。 Regardless of whether I agreed with the outcome， it's the 'thinking' that is important。 That said， the stronger arguments are in the beginning。 I would have shortened the book and added a epigenetics epilogue。 。。。more
Sunshine Biskaps
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"Survival of the Sickest: The surprising connections between disease and longevity" by Sharon Moalem and Johnathan PrinceThis book is interesting and full of facts and details that supported the author's claims。 I found the section about T。 gondii （toxoplasmosis） in regards to cats and how they affect pregnant ladies interesting。 I always knew that as a woman of reproductive age that I should let someone else clean out the cat's litter box。 However， I didn't know that the infection does not get "Survival of the Sickest: The surprising connections between disease and longevity" by Sharon Moalem and Johnathan PrinceThis book is interesting and full of facts and details that supported the author's claims。 I found the section about T。 gondii （toxoplasmosis） in regards to cats and how they affect pregnant ladies interesting。 I always knew that as a woman of reproductive age that I should let someone else clean out the cat's litter box。 However， I didn't know that the infection does not get past onto an infant if the woman has had the infection long before her pregnancy。 What is the reasoning behind woman infected with this organism to become more attractive and have more sexual partners and men to become more lazy and loners？ T。 gondii apparently triggers schizophrenia。 Do cat owners actually have a higher percentage of being diagnosed with schizophrenia？ Was this researched at all？ I will take all this information with a grain of salt。I also liked reading the part about rabies and dicrocoelium dentriticum， the tiny worm that lives in livers of sheep and cattle。 These organisms infect their hosts and literally transform them into another creature with completely different behaviours， trying to survive and reproduce the best they can。 Sneezing is not just a symptom of a cold， but it's a way for the bacteria to infect another host。 Pinworms are interesting in the way they spread from child to other children from scratching an itchy bum and getting the worms eggs under fingertips and then contaminating everything the kid touches。 Around page 179， the author writes about epigenetics which is a fascinating topic， with a lot more research to be done。 I thought it was quite interesting that after 9-11， there was a rise in male baby miscarriages。 And after times of conflict， there is an influx of male births。 According to the author， more females are born to difficult times and more males are born with cheer and joy after wars are over。 Where are these authors getting this information from？ The fat， yellow rodent turning into a skinny brown rodent due to a turning off or on of a gene is interesting。 Colourful and social locusts due to the availability of food is quite entertaining too。 The last chapter in relation to child birth under water made me think of the fact that in conventional births， doctors do wipe babies faces so they don’t breathe in their own fecal matter which can lead to serious infections。 I have never given birth so I never even thought twice why doctors had to do this。 I was impressed by the many topics the author touches on。 It's a good， fun and interesting read。 But definitely more wordy and research-based than I thought it would be。 I think the title was a bit misleading as I was more expecting a book about health rather than a book about bacteria and evolution。 。。。more
Aviad Eilam
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I can’t vouch at all for the medical claims and theories Moalem presents， but even if they turn out to be entirely unsupported， the journey—well-written and clear—is worth it for the pop science aficionado。
Achyuth Sanjay
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