Handbook of Nutrition and Immunity
Edited by M.E. Gerswin, P. Nestel, C.L. Keen
Published by Humana Press, Totawa, New Jersey, USA
Pages: 365. Price: Hardcover £47.83, $89.50 (CD with Personal Digital Assistant version included), E-book £42.50, $79.50.
ISBN-1-58829-308-4. E-ISBN-1-59259-790-4
In recent decades the interest in nutrition has increased. The role of nutrition in manitaining health and in the prevention of diseases, such as certain types of malignancies coronary events and Alzheimer disease, has been the subject of intensive research. This book emphasises the role of nutrition in immunological processes.
The first two chapters describe extensively the methods by which the immune function can be established in certain risk groups, such as the elderly and low birth weight children, and the various ways to assess the nutritional status, (e.g. history, clinical assessment and laboratory tests) are discussed. Special attention is paid to the pregnant and lactating female in Chapter 3. The second part of the book (Chapter 4–7 and 9–10) contains detailed information about the effects of severe under nutrition, the role of vitamins, trace elements, dietary fat, antioxidants and pro- and pre-biotics on immune function. The third part of the book covers specific clinical problems, such as allergy, Malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection and HIV.
This book is, as the autors's state, a concise version of the text-book “Nutrition and Immunology: Principles and Practices”. The information in the book is very accessible as each chapter contains key points that cover the main topics of the chapter. The reference lists are extensive and up to date. Furhtermore, the tables and figures are useful and easy to read. The CD with the Personal Digital Assistant version is very convenient for the clinicians using a hand-held computer in their daily routine. The only drawback in the lay out of the book is that all authors make ample use of abbreviations, which are not always easy to retrace. It would be convenient to the reader if a list fo abbreviations was added at the end of each chapter or after the final chapter.
The content of the various chapter is informative, complete and qualitatively high although there are a few inaccuracies. It is suggested that in the case of milk allergy, cheese and yogurt can be used as alternative sources of calcium. This is not entirely true; if a patient is allergic to cow's milk, the consumption of cheese and yogurt made of cow's milk can lead adverse reaction. Furthermore, the role of a type II allergy to food allergens is open to question. In the discussions about the hygiene hypothesis the most recent developments, such as the regulatory T-cell, dendritic cell and the role of innate immunity, are lacking.
In conclusion, this is a useful book, relevant not only to clinicians treating patients at risk of under nutrition, such as the elderly, HIV patients or patients in developing countries, but also for those treating patients with infections such as Malaria, pulmonary infections or diarrhoea. It is also recommendable to clinicians working in the field of immunology, to medical students as an introduction to the subject or to dieticians as backgound information.
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