The Molecules Within Us

This eloquent book takes us on a spell-binding journey into the workings of our bodies in health and disease. Dr. Charles A. Pasternak captivates us with his vivid and even poetic explanations of what keeps us healthy and vital, and what tears away at our health. He possesses the gift for rendering complex topics clear and lyrical, as in the ways our molecules interact with one another to decide the fate of our heart, brain, and lungs---whether we live or die.Why does disease rear its ugly head? Why does cancer take hold in some of us and pass by others? What roles do nutrition and stress play in determining our chances for a long, fulfilling life? Can we hold our eventual demise at bay by trying novel drugs and therapies? Dr. Pasternak also explores to what extent the illnesses we suffer—and even our level of intelligence—are dependent on the genes we inherit from our parents, or the food we eat, or even the environment we inhabit. The story of our bodies is a true saga that has never before been so engrossingly told.

"...examines how stress, aging, nutrition, metabolism, genes, the environment, and many other internal & external factors affect the body's overall health."

Dr. Charles A. Pasternak is renowned for his pioneering work relating to cancer and infectious disease. He was the Founder-Chairman of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Sciences and the Department of Biochemistry at St. George’s Medical School at the University of London. He currently is Director of the Oxford International Biomedical Centre which he founded in 1992. Dr. Pasternak won an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellowship of the International Union Against Cancer in the Department of San Diego. He is the Founder-Editor of the prestigious international journal Bioscience Reports and is the author of over 250 original papers and two professional books. A member of numerous national and international committees including UNESCO and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, he has received awards and honors from several foreign governments for his work. He currently resides in London.