Nutrition, immunity and infection /

• Main Author: Shetty, Prakash S., (Author)
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK : CABI, 2010.
• Series: Modular texts.
• Subjects: Malnutrition > Immunological aspects.; Communicable diseases > Nutritional aspects.; Immunity > Nutritional aspects.; Malnutrition > complications.; Communicable Diseases > complications.; Communicable Diseases > immunology.; Immunity.; Malnutrition > immunology.; Other Produce.; Human Immunology and Allergology, (New March 2000); Physiology of Human Nutrition.; Nutrition related Disorders and Therapeutic Nutrition.; Prion, Viral, Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens of Humans, (New March 2000); Protozoan, Helminth and Arthropod Parasites of Humans, (New March 2000); Man.; Mycobacterium tuberculosis.; Acquired immune deficiency syndrome.; Autoimmune diseases.; Diarrhoea.; Food allergies.; Food intolerance.; Human diseases.; Human immunodeficiency viruses.; Immune system.; Immunology.; Infections.; Infectious diseases.; Iron.; Malnutrition.; Neoplasms.; Nutrient deficiencies.; Nutrient excesses.; Nutrients.; Nutrition.; Nutritional state.; Prebiotics.; Probiotics.; Respiratory diseases.; Retinol.; Tuberculosis.; Undernutrition.; Zinc.; Electronic books.
• Online Access: View fulltext via EzAccess

 Much evidence suggests the relationship of malnutrition and infection. With the increasing understanding of the immune system and its functions to protect hosts from infections, the part played by the nutritional status of individuals and the role of specific nutrients in this process are increasingly being recognized. This modular textbook covers comprehensively the great amount of knowledge on the synergistic and antagonistic interactions of nutrition, immunology, and infectious disease. After giving a historical background on the topic and the rationale for the book, the chapters that follow provide a general outline of immunity and immune systems of the human body. Other chapters describe the influence of nutrients on the immune system and the likely mechanisms that are affected by nutrient deficiency, the consequences of undernutrition on immune function, and the role of infection in the induction and perpetuation of undernutrition. Specific sections on the association between the risk of infection and vitamin A, iron, and zinc, and on the importance of nutrition in public health problems such as diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory illness, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and tuberculosis are included. Also addressed are the impacts of the said interactions on the health of vulnerable groups (i.e. children, maternal nutrition and birth outcomes, and the elderly), developments in the field that affect cancer and autoimmune diseases, role of probiotics and prebiotics in immune function, food allergy, and food intolerance.