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Previous Volume 354:1328-1329 March 23, 2006 Number 12 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel. 529 pp., illustrated. New York, Oxford University Press, 2006. $59.95. ISBN 0-19-517185-3.

Medical advances often focus on adjusting biology to cope with hostile environments — repairing damage from infectious agents, fast food, tobacco, violence, automobile accidents, and other adversities. Laboratories around the world search in our genes for the causes of and cures for hypertension, diabetes, and even broken hearts.

In contrast, scant effort goes into altering environments that make us sick. Yet, sanitary measures have played a bigger role than antibiotics in ameliorating infectious diseases; a rising standard of living trumps sophisticated medical technology as a route to longevity; and the modern epidemics of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease are man-made . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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