In this work, Dr. Link explains the extent of new, resurgent, and resistant diseases defying the abilities of science and medicine, or often finding strength in globalization or other facets of modernization. Although medicine and sanitation in modernized countries are more advanced than ever before, over the past three decades we have seen the emergence of some 30 new diseases, such as HIV, SARS, and Ebola. Lyme Disease, Hepatitis C, Legionnaires' Disease, and even Jacob-Creutzfeld, the human form of a disorder we know as Mad Cow, has made headlines. We are also facing a resurgence of diseases once thought nearly eradicated, including tuberculosis and smallpox, and the persistence of rare disorders such as leprosy. Link also explains why such diseases are not prevented by our current systems, and why some rare diseases persist despite technology that could cure them. He offers insight into why we may not be able to predict or prevent factors such as mutations, and also shares thoughts about what we can do—as individuals, communities and countries—to reduce the dangers of disease. Including a basic review of elements that cause them—viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi among them—this work gives a brief history of human diseases and points out how the burden of disease has increased throughout the history of mankind.

A revelatory and timely look at how technology boosts our cognitive abilities—making us smarter, more productive, and more creative than ever It’s undeniable—technology is changing the way we think. But is it for the better? Amid a chorus of doomsayers, Clive Thompson delivers a resounding “yes.” In Smarter Than You Think, Thompson shows that every technological innovation—from the written word to the printing press to the telegraph—has provoked the very same anxieties that plague us today. We panic that life will never be the same, that our attentions are eroding, that culture is being trivialized. But, as in the past, we adapt—learning to use the new and retaining what is good of the old. Smarter Than You Think embraces and extols this transformation, presenting an exciting vision of the present and the future.

This holistic guide explains how school librarians and teachers can successfully integrate relevant health concepts and life skills throughout the curriculum for students K through 12. In the United States, convenience food and soft drink-based diets, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and obesity have become common in youth culture. The importance of health education merits integration throughout school curricula; unfortunately, research shows that many teachers do not feel prepared to teach health issues within their subject areas. This book will encourage all librarians and teachers—no matter their specific area of instruction—to include health lessons in their teaching. Health Information in a Changing World: Practical Approaches for Teachers, Schools, and School Librarians provides a complete action plan for librarians and teachers who want to provide better health information to students and their caregivers. It contains an extensive discussion of teaching health within curriculum areas such as literature, history and biography, art, science and mathematics, industrial technology, and agriculture. Tips on accessing and evaluating health information in print and electronic media are presented, as well as practical suggestions for effective instructional methods, including ideas on conducting demonstrations, field trips, speaker programs, and online distance education. New findings regarding teaching effectiveness assessment are also presented.

"You can't unring a bell." "It takes a village to raise a child." "Life is just a bowl of cherries." We sometimes think of proverbs as expressions of ancient wisdom, but in fact new proverbs are constantly arising. This unique volume is devoted exclusively to English language proverbs that originated in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The most complete and accurate such collection ever compiled, The Yale Book of Modern Proverbs presents more than 1,400 individual proverbs gathered and researched with the help of electronic full-text databases not previously used for such a project. Entries are organized alphabetically by key words, with information about the earliest datable appearance, origin, history, and meaning of each proverb. Mundane or sublime, serious or jocular, these memorable sayings represent virtually every aspect of the modern experience. Readers will find the book almost impossible to put down once opened; every page offers further proof of the immense vitality of proverbs and their colorful contributions to the oral traditions of today.

This reference brings together findings from more than 200 national opinion surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University's School of Public Health, and other institutes and polling and media organizations.

Infectious diseases are a global hazard that puts every nation and every person at risk. The recent SARS outbreak is a prime example. Knowing neither geographic nor political borders, often arriving silently and lethally, microbial pathogens constitute a grave threat to the health of humans. Indeed, a majority of countries recently identified the spread of infectious disease as the greatest global problem they confront. Throughout history, humans have struggled to control both the causes and consequences of infectious diseases and we will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Following up on a high-profile 1992 report from the Institute of Medicine, Microbial Threats to Health examines the current state of knowledge and policy pertaining to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases from around the globe. It examines the spectrum of microbial threats, factors in disease emergence, and the ultimate capacity of the United States to meet the challenges posed by microbial threats to human health. From the impact of war or technology on disease emergence to the development of enhanced disease surveillance and vaccine strategies, Microbial Threats to Health contains valuable information for researchers, students, health care providers, policymakers, public health officials. and the interested public.

This plan addresses the need to improve our ability to identify infectious disease threats and respond to them effectively by improving the public health infrastructure at the local, state and federal levels. The goals of the plan are surveillance (detect, promptly investigate, and monitor emerging pathogens, the diseases they cause, and the factors influencing their emergence); applied research (integrate laboratory science and epidemiology to optimize public health practice); prevention and control (enhance communication of public health information about emerging diseases and ensure prompt implementation of prevention strategies); and infrastructure (strengthen local, state, and federal public health infrastructures to support surveillance and implement prevention and control programs).

Ideal for allied health and pre-nursing students, Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology: Body Systems, Second Edition, retains the engaging, student-friendly style and active learning approach for which award-winning author and educator Jeffrey Pommerville is known. Thoroughly revised and updated, the Second Edition presents diseases, complete with new content on recent discoveries, in a manner that is directly applicable to students and organized by body system. A captivating art program includes more than 150 newly added and revised figures and tables, while new feature boxes, Textbook Cases, serve to better illuminate key concepts. Pommerville's acclaimed learning design format enlightens and engages students right from the start, and new chapter conclusions round out each chapter, leaving readers with a clear understanding of key concepts.