Survival of the Sickest: The Surprising Connections Between Disease and Longevity (P.S.)

What Stiff did for death, what Freakonomics did for economics, this iconoclastic book now does for medicine and our understanding of the human body

In this revolutionary book, Sharon Moalem turns modern medicine’s understanding of disease on it’s head. “It is not,” he argues, “that dark country to which we’re exiled when we’re not ‘healthy.’ The truth, I intend to show you, is much more interesting and encouraging.” Moalem reveals how, instead of dreading common diseases, we should view them as complicated blessings that have helped homo sapiens to evolve.

So why does disease exist? Moalem proposes that most common ailments―diabetes, hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia―came into existence for very good reasons. At some point they helped our ancestors survive some grand challenge to their existence. Examining the evolution of man, Moalem reveals the role genetic and cultural differences have played in the health and well-being of various races, including their susceptibility to disease.

With mesmerizing insight, Moalem offers groundbreaking insight into :

• How diabetes may be a biproduct of a mechanism that helped humans survive the Ice Age

• Why African Americans living in the north might suffer from vitamin D deficiencies,

• Why Asians can’t drink as much alcohol as Europeans

Revelatory, utterly engaging, and timely―Moalem ponders H5N1, the emerging Avian Flu virus―Why Redheads Feel More Pain and Asians Can’t Drink will irrevocably change the way we think about our bodies and ourselves.