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Vital Organs
by Suzie EdgeThe remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts.Louis XIV's rear end inspired the British National Anthem. Queen Victoria's armpit led the development of antiseptics.Robert Jenkin's ear started a war.All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is.Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts, including why Percy Shelley's heart refused to burn; how Yao Niang's toes started a 1000 year long ritual; why a giant's bones are making us rethink medical ethics; and the strange case of Hitler's right testicle.
Vital Organs
by Suzie EdgeThe remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts.Louis XIV's rear end inspired the British National Anthem. Queen Victoria's armpit led to the development of antiseptics.Robert Jenkin's ear started a war.All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is.Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts, including why Percy Shelley's heart refused to burn; how Yao Niang's toes started a 1000 year long ritual; why a giant's bones are making us rethink medical ethics; and the strange case of Hitler's right testicle.
Vital Organs
by Suzie EdgeThe remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts.Louis XIV's rear end inspired the British National Anthem. Queen Victoria's armpit led to the development of antiseptics.Robert Jenkin's ear started a war.All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is.Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts, including why Percy Shelley's heart refused to burn; how Yao Niang's toes started a 1000 year long ritual; why a giant's bones are making us rethink medical ethics; and the strange case of Hitler's right testicle.
The Vital Psoas Muscle: Connecting Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being
by Jo Ann Staugaard-JonesLocated deep within the anterior hip joint and lower spine, the psoas major (usually just referred to as the psoas) is critical for optimal postural alignment, movement, and overall well being. The psoas is the only muscle in the human organism that connects the upper body to the lower body, and its importance extends to the nerve complex and energy systems. As modern-day populations grow more sedentary, psoas-related lower back and hip pain, and the ailment of "sitting too much," are on the rise. Even the most active of athletes can suffer from psoas imbalance and pain. The Vital Psoas Muscle demonstrates how to keep the muscle in balance through specific exercises designed to strengthen and utilize this amazing muscle, and discusses its vital role in the emotional and spiritual state of the human being. The interconnection between the psoas and the root chakra is explored, along with yoga poses and postures that stimulate the psoas. Eighty full-color illustrations depict anatomical details, and show the key stretching and strengthening exercises in this practical and comprehensive treatment of the most important skeletal muscle in the human body.
The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life
by Nick LaneTo explain the mystery of how life evolved on Earth, Nick Lane explores the deep link between energy and genes. The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there's a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists. For two and a half billion years, from the very origins of life, single-celled organisms such as bacteria evolved without changing their basic form. Then, on just one occasion in four billion years, they made the jump to complexity. All complex life, from mushrooms to man, shares puzzling features, such as sex, which are unknown in bacteria. How and why did this radical transformation happen? The answer, Lane argues, lies in energy: all life on Earth lives off a voltage with the strength of a lightning bolt. Building on the pillars of evolutionary theory, Lane's hypothesis draws on cutting-edge research into the link between energy and cell biology, in order to deliver a compelling account of evolution from the very origins of life to the emergence of multicellular organisms, while offering deep insights into our own lives and deaths. Both rigorous and enchanting, The Vital Question provides a solution to life's vital question: why are we as we are, and indeed, why are we here at all?
Vital Signs: Core Metrics for Health and Health Care Progress
by David BlumenthalThousands of measures are in use today to assess health and health care in the United States. <P><P>Although many of these measures provide useful information, their usefulness in either gauging or guiding performance improvement in health and health care is seriously limited by their sheer number, as well as their lack of consistency, compatibility, reliability, focus, and organization. To achieve better health at lower cost, all stakeholders - including health professionals, payers, policy makers, and members of the public - must be alert to what matters most. What are the core measures that will yield the clearest understanding and focus on better health and well-being for Americans? "Vital Signs" explores the most important issues - healthier people, better quality care, affordable care, and engaged individuals and communities - and specifies a streamlined set of 15 core measures. These measures, if standardized and applied at national, state, local, and institutional levels across the country, will transform the effectiveness, efficiency, and burden of health measurement and help accelerate focus and progress on our highest health priorities. "Vital Signs" also describes the leadership and activities necessary to refine, apply, maintain, and revise the measures over time, as well as how they can improve the focus and utility of measures outside the core set. If health care is to become more effective and more efficient, sharper attention is required on the elements most important to health and health care. "Vital Signs" lays the groundwork for the adoption of core measures that, if systematically applied, will yield better health at a lower cost for all Americans.
Vital Signs: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future (Vital Signs #Volume 20)
by The Worldwatch InstituteFrom meat consumption to automobile production to hydropower, Vital Signs, Volume 20 documents over two dozen trends that are shaping our future in concise analyses and clear tables and graphs. The twentieth volume of the Worldwatch Institute series demonstrates that while remarkable progress has been made over the past year, much remains to be done to get the planet on a more sustainable track. Worldwide, people are waking up to the realities of a resource-constrained planet: investments and subsidies for renewable energy have reached new heights, consumers are slowly shifting away from meat-heavy diets, and new employment structures like co-operatives are democratizing the global economy. Yet with over 1 billion people lacking access to electricity, natural disasters that are more costly than ever before, and an adherence to the factory farm model of food production, it is clear that many obstacles loom on the horizon. Covering a wide range of environmental, economic, and social themes, Vital Signs, Volume 20 is the go-to source for straightforward data and analyses on the latest issues facing an increasingly crowded planet. By placing each trend within a global framework, Vital Signs, Volume 20 identifies the solutions we need to transition toward a more sustainable world. This bookwill be especially useful for policymakers, environmental nonprofits, and students of environmental studies, sustainability, or economics.
Vital Signs Volume 21: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future (Vital Signs #Volume 20)
by The Worldwatch InstituteVital Signs Volume 21 is all about growth. From natural disasters to cars to organic farming, the two dozen trends examined here indicate both increasing pressure on natural resources and scaled up efforts to live more sustainably. In 2012, world auto production set yet another record with passenger-car production rising to 66.7 million. That same year, the number of natural disasters climbed to 905, roughly one hundred more than the 10-year annual average, and 90 percent were weather related. Alongside these mounting pressures come investments in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. The number of acres of land farmed organically has tripled since 1999, though it still makes up less than 1% of total farmland. Not all the statistics are going up. Key measures of development aid have fallen, as have global commodity prices. Yet the overall trend is expansion, both for the good and ill of the planet. Vital Signs provides the latest data available, but its value goes beyond simple numbers. Through insightful analysis of global trends, it offers a starting point for those seeking solutions to the future's intensifying challenges.
Vitalism and Its Legacy in Twentieth Century Life Sciences and Philosophy (History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences #29)
by Charles T. Wolfe Christopher DonohueThis Open Access book combines philosophical and historical analysis of various forms of alternatives to mechanism and mechanistic explanation, focusing on the 19th century to the present. It addresses vitalism, organicism and responses to materialism and its relevance to current biological science. In doing so, it promotes dialogue and discussion about the historical and philosophical importance of vitalism and other non-mechanistic conceptions of life. It points towards the integration of genomic science into the broader history of biology. It details a broad engagement with a variety of nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century vitalisms and conceptions of life. In addition, it discusses important threads in the history of concepts in the United States and Europe, including charting new reception histories in eastern and south-eastern Europe. While vitalism, organicism and similar epistemologies are often the concern of specialists in the history and philosophy of biology and of historians of ideas, the range of the contributions as well as the geographical and temporal scope of the volume allows for it to appeal to the historian of science and the historian of biology generally.
Vitalism and the Scientific Image in Post-Enlightenment Life Science, 1800-2010
by Sebastian Normandin Charles T. WolfeVitalism is understood as impacting the history of the life sciences, medicine and philosophy, representing an epistemological challenge to the dominance of mechanism over the last 200 years, and partly revived with organicism in early theoretical biology. The contributions in this volume portray the history of vitalism from the end of the Enlightenment to the modern day, suggesting some reassessment of what it means both historically and conceptually. As such it includes a wide range of material, employing both historical and philosophical methodologies, and it is divided fairly evenly between 19th and 20th century historical treatments and more contemporary analysis. This volume presents a significant contribution to the current literature in the history and philosophy of science and the history of medicine.
Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment
by Peter Hanns ReillThis study redraws the intellectual map of the Enlightenment and reassesses the legacy of that highly influential period for us today. Peter Hanns Reill argues that in the middle of the eighteenth century, a major shift occurred in the way Enlightenment thinkers conceived of nature that caused many of them to reject the prevailing doctrine of mechanism and turn to a vitalistic model to account for phenomena in natural history, the life sciences, and chemistry.
Vitamin Analysis for the Health and Food Sciences
by Ronald R. Eitenmiller W. O. Landen Jr. Lin YeEmploying a uniform, easy-to-use format, Vitamin Analysis for the Health and Food Sciences, Second Edition provides the most current information on the methods of vitamin analysis applicable to foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals. Highlighting the rapid advancement of vitamin assay methodology, this edition emphasizes the use of improved
Vitamin B12: Advances and Insights
by Rima ObeidCobalamin (vitamin B12) was discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Vast amount of information on the role of the vitamins in human health and disease became available. Cobalamin science was, however, based on theoretical concepts that have been accepted without further proof of facts and hypotheses. Recently, the breath-taking pace of development in research technologies has changed our understanding for the role of nutrients and the complex interaction between diet, environment and diseases. Conditions like aging, diet and drugs increase the risk of developing cobalamin deficiency, probably because of diminished ability to liberate, absorb or distribute the food-derived vitamin. From a basic science point of view, understanding of the transport and function of the vitamin, may pave the road for using this system for drug delivery. This book represents up-to-date literature on the discoveries and developments in the field of cobalamin. It includes multifaceted aspects of the vitamin in health and disease conditions. The book has been written by leading scientists who have significant contributions in this field and represents therefore, a timely unique encyclopaedia on cobalamin.
Vitamin-Binding Proteins: Functional Consequences
by Krishnamurti Dakshinamurti Shyamala DakshinamurtiDiverse in chemical nature, water soluble and lipid soluble vitamins are essential micronutrients that react with specific protein entities and are transported to sites for participation in intracellular events, both at the genomic and non-genomic levels. Thus, metabolic pathways and intracellular signaling are influenced by vitamins or their deriv
Vitamin C: New Biochemical and Functional Insights (Oxidative Stress and Disease #1)
by Qi Chen Margreet C.M. VissersVitamin C holds a unique place in scientific and cultural history. In this book, a group of leading scientific research explore the myriad ways Vitamin C is employed during normal physiological function. This book also provides updates on recent uses ofVitamin C in cancer treatment through high dose intravenous therapies, the ways Vitamin C reduces or prevents sepsis and in the treatment of infectious disease, and the ways Vitamin C improves succesful stem cell transplantation, as well as other health implications. Key selling features: Reviews the history and recent research on the benefits and uses of Vitamin C Focuses special attention on the ways Vitamin C can be used in the treatment of cancers Discusses how Vitamin C is employed against infectious disease Includes chapters from a team of leading international scholars
Vitamin C: Volume III
by Alan B. ClemetsonThe factors affecting blood vitamin C levels are described in detail in this series. Many factors such as aging, smoking, infection, trauma, surgery, hemolysis, hormone administration, heavy metals, pregnancy, alcohol, ionizing radiation and several medicines have been found to cause a disturbance of ascorbic acid metabolism and to reduce blood vitamin C levels. Indeed, abnormalities of ascorbic acid metabolism, due to factors such as smoking, occur much more frequently than does dietary vitamin C deficiency today.It is now known that low blood vitamin C levels are associated with histaminemia (high blood histamine levels), and also that ascorbate-responsive histaminemia is common in apparently healthy people. High blood histamine levels are believed to cause small hemorrhages within the inner walls of the blood vessels and these may lead to the deposition of cholesterol, as an aberrant form of wound healing. Ascorbic acid not only reduces blood histamine levels, but also aids the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids in the liver. The clinical pathological and chemical changes observed in ascorbic acid deficiency are discussed in detail. Several diseases and disorders associated with low blood vitamin C levels are also described. Possible toxic effects resulting from the oxidation of ascorbic acid are noted, and reasons for the use of D-catechin or other chelating fiber to prevent or minimize the release of ascorbate-free radical are detailed. An excellent reference for physicians, nutritionists and other scientists
Vitamin C: Volume I
by Alan B. ClemetsonThe factors affecting blood vitamin C levels are described in detail in this series. Many factors such as aging, smoking, infection, trauma, surgery, hemolysis, hormone administration, heavy metals, pregnancy, alcohol, ionizing radiation and several medicines have been found to cause a disturbance of ascorbic acid metabolism and to reduce blood vitamin C levels. Indeed, abnormalities of ascorbic acid metabolism, due to factors such as smoking, occur much more frequently than does dietary vitamin C deficiency today.It is now known that low blood vitamin C levels are associated with histaminemia (high blood histamine levels), and also that ascorbate-responsive histaminemia is common in apparently healthy people. High blood histamine levels are believed to cause small hemorrhages within the inner walls of the blood vessels and these may lead to the deposition of cholesterol, as an aberrant form of wound healing. Ascorbic acid not only reduces blood histamine levels, but also aids the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids in the liver. The clinical pathological and chemical changes observed in ascorbic acid deficiency are discussed in detail. Several diseases and disorders associated with low blood vitamin C levels are also described. Possible toxic effects resulting from the oxidation of ascorbic acid are noted, and reasons for the use of D-catechin or other chelating fiber to prevent or minimize the release of ascorbate-free radical are detailed. An excellent reference for physicians, nutritionists and other scientists
Vitamin C: Volume II
by Alan B. ClemetsonThe factors affecting blood vitamin C levels are described in detail in this series. Many factors such as aging, smoking, infection, trauma, surgery, hemolysis, hormone administration, heavy metals, pregnancy, alcohol, ionizing radiation and several medicines have been found to cause a disturbance of ascorbic acid metabolism and to reduce blood vitamin C levels. Indeed, abnormalities of ascorbic acid metabolism, due to factors such as smoking, occur much more frequently than does dietary vitamin C deficiency today.It is now known that low blood vitamin C levels are associated with histaminemia (high blood histamine levels), and also that ascorbate-responsive histaminemia is common in apparently healthy people. High blood histamine levels are believed to cause small hemorrhages within the inner walls of the blood vessels and these may lead to the deposition of cholesterol, as an aberrant form of wound healing. Ascorbic acid not only reduces blood histamine levels, but also aids the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids in the liver. The clinical pathological and chemical changes observed in ascorbic acid deficiency are discussed in detail. Several diseases and disorders associated with low blood vitamin C levels are also described. Possible toxic effects resulting from the oxidation of ascorbic acid are noted, and reasons for the use of D-catechin or other chelating fiber to prevent or minimize the release of ascorbate-free radical are detailed. An excellent reference for physicians, nutritionists and other scientists
Vitamin C: Its Functions and Biochemistry in Animals and Plants
by Han Asard, James M.May and Nicholas SmirnoffVitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a key vitamin to animals and plants. This book looks at all aspects of vitamin C; its chemical and biochemical properties, its role in various plants and animals and its effect on our health. Written by an international team of experts, together they represent much of the expertise on vitamin C throughout the world.
Vitamin C in Human Health and Disease: Effects, Mechanisms of Action, and New Guidance on Intake
by Wang Jae LeeThis book presents the scientific evidence for the role of vitamin C in health and disease and offers new guidance on vitamin C intake in humans. The importance of vitamin C in preventing cancer and cardiovascular disease, its relevance to aging and stress, and its impacts on each of the human body systems are thoroughly assessed on the basis of the author’s extensive research and his deep understanding, as an anatomy professor, of the body as a whole. Findings published in the international scientific literature are fully taken into account, and due consideration is also given to empirical evidence, bearing in mind that mechanisms of action cannot always be precisely defined in the absence of human experiments. Beyond providing an up-to-date scientific perspective on the effects of vitamin C, the author hopes to promote human health worldwide by encouraging proper use of the vitamin. To this end, recommendations are made on the amount of vitamin C that should be taken daily and on the best way to take it. The book will be of interest to researchers, clinicians, and all others who wish to learn more about this vitamin and its significance.
Vitamin D
by Michael F. HolickIn Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications, Second Edition, leading researchers provide a comprehensive, highly readable overview of the biological functions and clinical applications of vitamin D and its metabolites. Topics range from the most recent recommendations for vitamin D intake to new approaches for the treatment and prevention of vitamin D deficiency and the development of active vitamin D drugs to treat psoriasis and cancer. The book demonstrates the significant role that vitamin D has in maintaining good bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis, an important health problem for adults over the age of fifty. In addition, it authoritatively reviews the relationship between sunlight exposure, vitamin D, and increased risk of colon and breast cancer; how vitamin D is made in the skin; and the sequence of events that leads to its activation by the kidney. Also examined are the biological functions of 1,25-dihydrovitamin D3 on the intestine and bone, as well as other tissues, such as skin, the immune system, prostate, and breast, and vitamin D's molecular mechanism of action on the cell membrane and nucleus. The first edition of Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology and Clinical Applications was the benchmark in the field when published in 1999. This new and expanded volume continues to include extensive, in-depth chapters covering the most important aspects of the complex interactions between vitamin D and other dietary components, the ongoing debate concerning the best indicator of optimal vitamin D status and its nutrient requirements, and the impact of less than optimal status on disease risk. Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications, Second Edition is designed and organized not only to be an up-to-date review on the subject, but also to provide medical students, graduate students, health care professionals and even the lay public with a reference source for the most up-to-date information about the vitamin D deficiency pandemic and its clinical implications for health and disease.
Vitamin D and Cancer
by Donald L. Trump Candace S. JohnsonSubstantial data indicate the broad importance of vitamin D-based signaling in normal human physiology and the broad effects of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D may play a role not only in the control of bone and mineral metabolism, but also appears to be involved in immune function, cardiovascular health, thrombosis and vasculogenesis and neuromuscular function. Considerable epidemiologic data demonstrate that low vitamin D serum levels occur very commonly in normal adult populations and that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an enhanced risk of cancer death from lung, prostate, head & neck, colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers. In addition, preclinical data provide evidence that calcitriol and other active analogues of calcitriol have anti-proliferative, pro-differentiative, pro-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic activity in numerous in-vitro and in-vivo models. It is quite clear that, while it requires high exposure to calcitriol to induce these effects, such exposure can be readily achieved when high dose intermittent therapy is given.
Vitamin D im Fokus: Irrtümer richtig gestellt
by Jörg ReichrathWelchen Einfluss hat Vitamin D auf die Entstehung von Krebserkrankungen, Herz-Kreislauferkrankungen, Stoffwechsel- und Autoimmunerkrankungen? Wie gelingt die Balance zwischen notwendiger Sonneneinstrahlung und Vermeidung des Hautkrebsrisikos? Antworten auf diese und viele weitere Fragen zu diesem wichtigen Vitamin sowie der Vitamin D Mangelerkrankung Rachitis liefert das vorliegende Werk. Es räumt dabei mit häufigen Irrtümern über Aufbau, Funktion und Wirkung von Vitamin D auf und liefert darüber hinaus zahlreiche, praxisrelevante Fakten für eine optimale Versorgung. Der Autor ist ausgewiesener Experte auf dem Gebiet und seit über drei Jahrzehnten in der Forschung zu Vitamin D tätig. Das Buch wendet sich an Ärztinnen und Ärzte, die ihre Patientinnen und Patienten auf Basis neuester wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse rund um das Thema Vitamin D bestmöglich versorgen und informieren möchten.
Vitamin D im Überblick: Wissenschaftlich fundierte Grundlagen und aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse (essentials)
by Armin ZittermannVitamin D kann in der Haut durch die UV-B-Strahlung der Sonne gebildet sowie über bestimmte Lebensmittel und Supplemente zugeführt werden. Die aktive Vitamin-D-Form ist ein Steroidhormon mit Wirkungen in einer Vielzahl von Geweben. Ein Vitamin-D-Mangel ist in Deutschland weit verbreitet. Es gibt eine Reihe von Risikogruppen, vor allem aufgrund unzureichender kutaner Synthese. Neben den klassischen Vitamin-D-Mangelerkrankungen Rachitis und Osteomalazie ist ein Vitamin- D-Mangel vermutlich auch ein Risikofaktor für verschiedene weit verbreitete chronische Erkrankungen sowie für eine verkürzte Lebenserwartung. Zur Verbesserung der Vitamin-D-Versorgung der Bevölkerung sind umfangreichere Anreicherungsmaßnahmen von Lebensmitteln sowie eine stärkere Verwendung von Supplementen zu fordern.
Vitamins and Minerals in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer
by Maryce M. JacobsThis book provides researchers and practitioners with a unique collection of current research on the role of vitamins and micronutrients in cancer prevention and treatment. New theories are discussed, including a hypothesis that dietary factors may protect against genetically predisposed cancers. Mechanisms by which different vitamins and minerals appear to inhibit carcinogenesis or cell transformation are described, including vitamins A, C, E, and selenium protection against oxidative stress by induction of enzymes as catalase and dismutase or inteference with free radical mechanisms; organosulfur compound inhibition of P450 activation enzymes or enhancement of detoxification enzymes; metal ion effects in the modulation of gene expression by site-specific binding of Zn-finger loop domains; B-carotene metabolite up-regulation of gap junctional communication between cells; and vitamin D3 elimination of amplified oncogenes or drug resistant genes. The book also reviews literature implicating a possible relationship between potassium and the control of cancer. Other information presented includes a discussion of contemporary technologies and data associating lipotrope deficiencies with alterations in xenobiotic metabolism, nucleic acid methylation, purine and pyrimidine synthesis, signal transduction, and chromosome anomalies.