New Scientist - The Essential Guides

The Essential Guide series brings together the best recent coverage from New Scientist specially curated into beautiful compendiums about the most exciting themes in science and technology today. Written and edited by some of the world’s best science writers, these guides will leave you with everything you need to know about subjects from nutrition to the solar system and more.

HUMAN HEALTH

New Scientist - The Essential Guides

IMMUNITY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE

HOW THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WORKS • Some people seem to catch everything that is doing the rounds, from coughs and colds to stomach bugs. Other people never seem to get ill. What’s their secret? The immune system is vastly complex, and immunology is a relatively young discipline, but over the past two decades we have made significant inroads into understanding this vast and intricate inner world that keeps us safe.

WHY FEVER IS OUR FRIEND • As news about coronavirus spread around the world, paracetamol soon began to disappear from shop shelves as people stocked up. That probably comes as little surprise given that one of the most unpleasant symptoms of the infection is a fever, and paracetamol is one of our most effective drugs to treat it. But should we be so hasty to get our temperature down?

BEYOND ANTIBIOTICS • So far we’ve encountered bacteria mainly as foreign agents out to infect us. But there are some 10,000 species of bacteria in our bodies, 99 per cent of them harmless. They help furnish us with nutrients, tune our immune systems, balance our metabolisms and possibly even ward off mood disorders. And as anyone who’s had an upset stomach after taking antibiotics can attest, when we target the dangerous minority of disease-causing species, we often wind up killing off the good ones too – while creating antibiotic-resistant versions of the ones we seek to destroy. There could be a better way.

ARE ANTIBIOTICS MAKING US SICK?

HAVE WE BECOME TOO CLEAN? • The surest way to stay healthy is to avoid getting infected in the first place. That means hygiene. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, we have got used to regularly washing our hands and sneezing into our elbows, and even the widespread wearing of face masks in public. But supermarket shelves packed with antibacterial and antiviral cleaning agents bring with them whispers about these products’ effects on beneficial bacteria. Might their overuse be harming us, and even fuelling antibiotic resistance?

IMMUNE BOOSTERS • As we’ve seen, many of the factors affecting our immune system’s performance are out of our control. But beyond cleaning regimes, there are some things we have more control over. Some dietary supplements can work – although they’re probably not the best medicine

EVERYDAY MALADIES

WHAT STRESS IS ALL ABOUT • Whether you’re running late for a meeting, or coping with a personal loss, stress is an unavoidable part of modern life. Yet, while some people seem to float along unfazed by the stressors that life throws at them, others are overwhelmed and sink. Understanding the key to this resilience wouldn’t just help us to manage life’s daily struggles better, it might also teach us how to use stress to our advantage.

COULD WE VACCINATE PEOPLE AGAINST STRESS?

THE ALLERGY EXPLOSION • Faced with airline peanut bans, it is easy to dismiss allergies as imaginary modern maladies. They’re not. They are a genuine immune-system reaction, and an allergic food or bee sting response can be deadly. There’s even evidence that uncontrolled hay fever may progress towards more serious asthma development. So why are these conditions on the up?

IF I HAVE ONE ALLERGY WILL I DEVELOP OTHERS?

FOOD INTOLERANCES • Like allergies, the prevalence of food intolerances has risen dramatically in recent years, as has the availability and popularity of “free-from”...