Firefly Books
Meet Your Bacteria: The Hidden Communities That Live in Your Gut and Other Organs
Key Metrics
- Catherine Whitlock
- Firefly Books
- Paperback
- 9780228101260
- 9.2 X 7.4 X 0.6 inches
- 1.19 pounds
- Health & Fitness > Diseases - Gastrointestinal
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
A fascinating examination of the three pounds of bacteria living in a typical human being.
We are a society obsessed with cleanliness -- but is this a healthy obsession? Do we use antibacterial products correctly? Should my child wash her hands after playing in the park? Why does my doctor insist that I finish the bottle of antibiotics even though I feel better? What is Lactobacillus? And superbugs?
The human body plays host to trillions of bugs -- living microorganisms too tiny to see -- including our own personal, unique set of bacteria. We're only just beginning to understand the important role these bacteria play in human health.
This highly topical and accessible book covers bacteria from all angles and includes:
- The different bacteria that live on and in various parts of your body (not just in the gut)
- What these bacteria do, and why some are beneficial and some harmful
- Practical advice for promoting the good and inhibiting the bad bacteria
- The latest thinking on clean environments and the links between bacteria and disease
- Bacteria in pregnancy and birth and how children's bacteria set them up for life
- The causes of an unhealthy gut, including travel, eating a different diet, prolonged stress, intestinal parasites and improper use or overuse of antibiotics
- The current research, including fecal transplantation from a healthy person's gut flora to that of an unhealthy gut
- The difference between prebiotics and probiotics and their health benefits, and much more.
Advertisers insist that bacteria are bad. Are they? Meet Your Bacteria has the answers.
Author Bio
My background is in biomedical research. With a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Immunology (Imperial College, London University), I spent ten happy and productive years in London labs. Here, I explored the immune response in two autoimmune diseases: Goodpasture’s disease, a rare kidney disorder, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Researching novel therapies for rheumatoid arthritis overlapped with another research project: studying how cells of the immune system travel round the body and locate their targets.
This journey, combined with teaching roles at Kings College London, New York University (NYU London) and the meetings company EuroSciCon, led me to my current career as a science communicator.
After gaining a Diploma in Science Communication (Birkbeck College, London University: Distinction), I now work freelance as a science writer and author. I am a member of the Association of British Science Writers, the Royal Society of Biology and the British Society for Immunology.
Based in Kent, UK, I write about science, medicine and nature.
Source: Catherinewhitlock.co.uk
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