Microbial Inhabitants of Humans
Microbial Inhabitants of Humans
$191.00
USDThis advanced textbook provides a unique overview of the microbial communities (normal indigenous microbiota) inhabiting those regions of the human body that are exposed to the external environment, including the skin, eyes, oral cavity and the respiratory, urinary, reproductive and gastrointestinal tracts. In order to understand why particular organisms are able to colonise an anatomical region and why the resulting microbial community has a particular composition, an ecological approach is essential. Consequently, the key anatomical and physiological characteristics of each body site are described throughout the book. The crucial roles of the indigenous microbiota in protecting against exogenous pathogens, regulating the development of our immune system and mucosae, and providing nutrients are also discussed. The involvement of these organisms in infections of healthy and debilitated individuals are discussed throughout and methods of manipulating the composition of the indigenous microbiota for the benefit of human health are also described.
- Ecological approach to describing the origin and nature of the microbial communities living on humans
- Emphasizes the important benefits to humans of these microbial communities
- Describes the wide range of diseases caused by indigenous microbes
Reviews & endorsements
"This book may be read very comfortably from cover-to-cover or could be used as a reference for those interested n the ecology of their favorite system...It introduces an expansive discipline that will provide a much more sophisticated approach to the microbiology of human health." JAMA
"This authoritative book fills a gaping hole in the literature by describing how bacteria interrelate with us." Science Magazine
"The book's strength lies in the exhaustive, clearly organized evidence that the author presents to overwhelmingly document his hypothesis. His hard-nosed look at the evidence in the area of holistic medicine will be much appreciated by the skeptic and the enthusiast alike." Science Magazine, Elaine Tuomanen
"This book should be appreciated for being ahead of its time." Clinical Infectious Diseases
"The book is organized logically with a clearly outlined table of contents. The text is well written, and there are abundant useful tables throughout. The index is excellent." Clinical Infectious Diseases
"This book is an aerial view of exactly what the title describes and will instruct well those who want to grasp the scope of the vast and varied topic of the normal microflora." New England Journal of Medicine, Andrew G. Plaut, M.D.
"This text definitely makes for an interesting read and is well written, well referenced and has good diagrams, pictures and clear tables." Dr. Elizabeth McLellan, Spr. in Medical Microbiology, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield
"There is a wealth of information in this text about what seems to be almost everything you'd want to know about numerous bacterial species - information one would probably be hard-pressed to gather on one's own and compile in such a clear and organized manner." Yunie Kim, Yale Journal of Biology & Medicine
Product details
November 2004Hardback
9780521841580
476 pages
254 × 178 × 27 mm
1.04kg
136 b/w illus. 2 colour illus. 194 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. An introduction to the human-microbe symbiosis
- 2. The skin and its indigenous microbiota
- 3. The eye and its indigenous microbiota
- 4. The respiratory system and its indigenous microbiota
- 5. The urinary system and its indigenous microbiota
- 6. The reproductive system and its indigenous microbiota
- 7. The gastrointestinal tract and its indigenous microbiota
- 8. The oral cavity and its indigenous microbiota
- 9. Role of the indigenous microbiota in maintaining human health
- 10. Manipulation of the indigenous microbiota.
