People, Parasites, and Plowshares : Learning From Our Body's Most Terrifying Invaders / Dickson Despommier.

Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. This New House: Trichinella spiralis; 2. Hooked on Parasites: Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus; 3. Houdini's Nefarious Cousins: The Trypanosomes, the Schistosomes, and the Lymphatic Filariae; 4. A Parasite for All Seasons: Toxoplasma gondii; 5. The Unholy Trinity: Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and the Hookworms; 6. The Long and the Short of It: Tapeworms- Taenia saginata, Taenia solium, Diphyllobothrium latum, Echinococcus granulosus, and Echinococcus multilocularis.

7. All's Well That Ends Wells: Dracunculus medinensis8. Nature Has All the Answers. What's Your Question?; Glossary; Further Reading; Index.

Dickson D. Despommier's vivid, visceral account of the biology, behavior, and history of parasites follows the interplay between these fascinating life forms and human society over thousands of years. He focuses on long-term host-parasite associations, which have evolved to avoid or even subvert the human immune system. Some do great damage to their hosts, while others have signed a kind of?peace treaty" in exchange for their long lives within them. They also, Despommier shows as he discusses these organisms with the reader, practice clever survival strategies that doctors hope to mimic.

Print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In English.

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