The Molecules Within US: Our Body in Health and Disease PDF
Preview The Molecules Within US: Our Body in Health and Disease
THE MOLECULES WITHIN US Our Body in Health and Disease THE MOLECULES WITHIN US Our Body in Health and Disease Dr. Charles A. Pasternak SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pasternak, Charles A. (Charles Alexander) The molecules within us : our body in health and disease I Charles A. Pasternak. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-306-45987-0 ISBN 978-1-4899-6012-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6012-2 1. Biochemistry. 2. Molecular biology. 3. Medicine. 4. Human physiology. 1. Title. [DNLM: 1. Physiology. 2. Biochemistry. 3. Molecular Biology. OT 104P291m 1998] OP514.2.P374 1998 610--dc21 DNLM/DLC for Library of Congress 98-26173 CIP ISBN 978-0-306-45987-0 © 1998 Charles A. Pasternak Originally published by Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York in 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1998 http://www.plenum.com 10987654321 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a data retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher To Helen and Bill Ramsay for their hospitality during the writing of this book and for constant support CON-TENTS . Foreword by Vincent T. Marchesi ix Foreword by Sir John Vane Xl Acknowledgments Xlll Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The Molecules of Life 13 Chapter 3: The Healthy Body: Nutrition and Metabolism 55 Chapter 4: Causes of Disease: Genes and the Environment 97 Chapter 5: Microbial Infections and the Immune System 141 Chapter 6: Stress: The Mind-Body Relationship 183 Chapter 7: Orthodox versus Alternative Medicine 209 Chapter 8: Uncharted Territory: The Workings of the Mind 245 Chapter 9: Maturation, Aging, and Death 277 Chapter 10: Epilogue 297 Bibliography 303 Glossary of Medical and Scientific Terms 305 Index 327 vii FOREWORD - T he average citizen who is concerned about health matters is likely to view the output of present day medical re searchers with an uncomfortable ambivalence, pleased to learn that tax dollars and other public support are being put to productive uses, but perplexed by an inability to understand ex actly what has been achieved. Part of the problem is certainly a matter of communication. Scientists make discoveries using the tools of chemistry, physics, and biology, and their findings are best revealed to others, using the most appropriate technical terms. To the experienced practi tioner who deals with them on a daily basis, these terms are ef fective ways to transmit complex ideas simply and faithfully. But to the uninitiated, these terms are as inaccessible as a foreign lan guage. To suggest, for example, that a gene has been discovered that causes cell cycle arrest, through a frameshift mutation, would be readily understood by a modern cancer researcher, but completely unintelligible to someone not familiar with the terms gene, cell cycle arrest, and frameshift mutation. The most dramatic advances in medicine are often d~scribed by journalists and others, but, because so much of the rich technical ix x The Molecules Within Us detail is omitted, such accounts often lack the excitement of discov ery. Those who do try to provide some appreciation of the science involved are usually forced to choose between the vernacular of the specialist, which is often opaque to the general reader, or more user-friendly but less precise everyday metaphors. Scientists who study living organisms have found that com plex biological systems can be more readily understood if the in dividual building blocks that make up each cell and tissue are isolated and analyzed at the molecular level. Biologists, working at the level of molecules, refer to themselves as molecular biolo gists. Indeed, a whole new field of molecular medicine has evolved within the past decade. Members of the public can experience the afterglow of these exciting new developments, but only if they acquire a working un derstanding of what biological molecules actually are. This vol ume, an account of what molecules are and how they both function and misfunction, is a welcome step in this direction. Peo ple long absent from the classroom will finally learn exactly what DNAis and how it influences every aspect of the living body, from nose shape to memory. They will learn how DNA can go "bad," often due to avoidable environmental influences, and result in can cer, heart disease, or degeneration of the nervous system. Armed with these new insights the public will be better able to appreciate why the United States government is investing bil lions of dollars in the Human Genome Project. And when it is completed, those who take the trouble to learn what molecules are and how they work will be able to decide for themselves what genetics may mean for their health and welfare in the future. Wading through this insightful book will be well worth the effort. Vincent T. Marchesi Director Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine Yale University FOREWORD - B iomedical knowledge has advanced more rapidly in the past 50 years than in the preceding 5000 years, and we are at last coming to know in some detail how our body works, and what we can do about it if it begins to fail. This posi tion has been reached because we now understand in molecular terms-terms of molecules like glucose and cholesterol, DNA and proteins-exactly how the food that we eat is turned into the cells that make up our bodies, how the energy inherent in the ox idation of food drives our muscles and heart, how organs like kidney, liver, and brain and the nervous system all work in a co ordinated manner. We can also treat disease in a rational manner, with drugs tailor-made to restore faulty organs to normal func tion, with antibiotics to kill infectious bacteria, and with vaccines to stop bacteria, viruses, and other microbes, from ever infecting us in the first place, and-still around the comer-with therapies that restore faulty genes to their full potential. Much of this knowledge has been locked up in scientific and medical publications to which the average person has no access. Now, for the first time, Charles Pasternak has explained the de tailed workings of our bodies in health and disease with such xi xii The Molecules Within Us clarity that it has opened up an understanding of the molecular basis of life to everyone. And it is important for everyone to un derstand these matters, for important decisions regarding em bryonic technologies, gene therapy, and the knowledge of a person's makeup, need to be made not by scientists and medical doctors, but by the public at large. It is fortunate that Charles Pasternak's lucid exposition of The Molecules Within Us has ap peared at such a timely moment. I recommend everyone with an interest in how their bodies work, and what they can do about it, to read this narrative: You will certainly be fascinated by it. (Sir) John Vane Nobel Laureate Honorary President The William Harvey Research Institute London
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