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Plague Time: How Stealth Infections Cause Cancer, Heart Disease, and Other Deadly Ailments
A noted biologist defends his controversial thesis that most of our worst killers--including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes--are in fact caused by infectious diseases.
- GenresHealthNonfictionScience
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 14, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 8, 2016
At this point, this is an older book. About 15 years old, which is a long time in the "science" world. But in many respects, a lot of the key arguments and hypotheses in this book still stand.
First off, the book is very well-written. All the concepts and science are presented in very clear and readable ways. Dr Paul Ewald is an evolutionary biologist, and does a wonderful job bringing his expertise to the world of microbes and human health.
The underlying hypothesis that Dr Ewald pushes forth is that a multitude of conditions and diseases may be caused by chronic stealth infections. The problem is, that ever since the middle of the 20th century, once we discovered DNA and formed a better understanding of genetics, we drifted away from studying infections and focused more on environmental and genetic aspects as the cause of many diseases. Most especially, we had figured out acute infections, with antibiotics, vaccines, and good testing, we had infections licked!
But there is a problem. While we had done a great job with acute infections, the medical community overlooked an important angle: chronic stealth infections. We have not invested nor researched this aspect of pathology enough.
This has likely been a misstep, and caused us to take our eye off the ball. We haven't invested in research and better testing to look at the role chronic/latent infections might be playing in human illness. Conditions that likely have infectious disease trigger or role include things like all the neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS. Other conditions possibly caused and linked to pathogens: chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.
One prime example Ewald mentions is helicobacter pylori. This infection is the cause of peptic ulcers but was dismissed for ages by the medical establishment (and pharma industry) in spite of the research. What happens is that in the medical community, dogma can sometimes trump evidence. Dr Ewald presents other cases, including infections and cancer. Over 25% of cancers are linked to infections.
It is an older book but well worth the read if you are interested in the subject. Even if his hypothesis doesn't prove to be 100% correct, still a great read for his perspective on pathogens and their evolution.
First off, the book is very well-written. All the concepts and science are presented in very clear and readable ways. Dr Paul Ewald is an evolutionary biologist, and does a wonderful job bringing his expertise to the world of microbes and human health.
The underlying hypothesis that Dr Ewald pushes forth is that a multitude of conditions and diseases may be caused by chronic stealth infections. The problem is, that ever since the middle of the 20th century, once we discovered DNA and formed a better understanding of genetics, we drifted away from studying infections and focused more on environmental and genetic aspects as the cause of many diseases. Most especially, we had figured out acute infections, with antibiotics, vaccines, and good testing, we had infections licked!
But there is a problem. While we had done a great job with acute infections, the medical community overlooked an important angle: chronic stealth infections. We have not invested nor researched this aspect of pathology enough.
This has likely been a misstep, and caused us to take our eye off the ball. We haven't invested in research and better testing to look at the role chronic/latent infections might be playing in human illness. Conditions that likely have infectious disease trigger or role include things like all the neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS. Other conditions possibly caused and linked to pathogens: chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.
One prime example Ewald mentions is helicobacter pylori. This infection is the cause of peptic ulcers but was dismissed for ages by the medical establishment (and pharma industry) in spite of the research. What happens is that in the medical community, dogma can sometimes trump evidence. Dr Ewald presents other cases, including infections and cancer. Over 25% of cancers are linked to infections.
It is an older book but well worth the read if you are interested in the subject. Even if his hypothesis doesn't prove to be 100% correct, still a great read for his perspective on pathogens and their evolution.
July 25, 2019
"We are their food."
Ewald's startling thesis is that "infection is at the root of the major chronic diseases of our time" (p. 271). These diseases include the two big killers, cancer and heart disease, and possibly Alzheimer's. His thesis is a heresy to a significant part of the medical establishment, and if correct, a revolution in the making. The conventional wisdom believes that cancer and heart disease are caused by a combination of factors including hereditary predisposition (bad genes), environmental catalysts (pollution), bad life style choices (fatty diet, alcohol, cigarettes), stress, etc. But what Ewald is saying is that there is a bacterium or a virus that causes these chronic diseases.
One of the powerful ideas behind Ewald's belief is the growing realization from evolutionary medicine that a major human disease cannot possibly be caused by bad genes since natural selection would have weeded them out long ago (pp. 55-56). Diseases caused by bad genes can only occur in a small percentage of a given population. The only exception would be a "bad gene" that has a compensating adaptive characteristic, such as the gene for sickle cells which confers immunity to malaria. Consequently, "the best bet is that they [chronic diseases] have infectious causes" (p. 56).
The practical evidence, evidence that has been consistently explained away or ignored, is the actual presence of disease agents in the tissues. Thus cervical cancer is now known to be caused by a papillomavirus that hides in the tumors and as such is a sexually transmitted disease. Peptic ulcers are now known to be caused by a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, and not worry or stress or booze, although these may be contributing factors. Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria are increasingly being implicated in heart disease. In Chapter Eight, Ewald makes the case for C. pneumoniae being the cause not only of atherosclerosis but Alzheimer's disease as well! Again, if correct, this is a revolution. The interesting (and terrible) thing about the peptic ulcer story is that it was known as long ago as the forties that peptic ulcers could be successfully treated with antibiotics, but that knowledge somehow became lost (!) until the early nineties (p. 99).
There is more: Ewald reports that Japanese researchers found the Borna disease virus "in one third of their patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome" and that this same virus "has been implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder" (p. 162). I would not be surprised to learn that other chronic diseases of unclear etiology such as fibromyalgia, certain kinds of arthritis, and even unexplained chronic pain are caused or at least initiated by infectious agents, probably viruses. (Actually I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a new kind of infectious agent, something smaller and stealthier than a virus is the cause of some human diseases. But then I used to write science fiction.)
One of Ewald's main arguments is that we can lessen the virulence of pathogens by the way we interact with them. An insight from evolutionary medicine is that a pathogen cannot afford to kill its host before it can spread from that host. However, if it can spread from the dead corpse of its host, then it can be as virulent as it likes. In places in the world where there are no screens and mosquitoes have easy access to their victims, the malaria protozoan tends to weaken its victims so much they can't even swat mosquitoes (protecting its vector!). However in areas where the buildings are made mosquito proof, the protozoan dare not be so virulent since the mosquitoes can only get to the hosts that are still able to be up and out of doors. Similarly, sexually transmitted diseases are more benign in populations that tend to be monogamous or to change partners infrequently. In populations that practice promiscuous sex frequently, the pathogen can afford to be very nasty because it will get transmitted often. But if the host is not going to be having sex with anyone new or soon, the germ must be nice and bide its time without knocking its host out of action. This principle also applies to cholera. If people have access to clean water the cholera bacterium must be relatively benign because it is going to take a long time to get passed on. But if the water supply is befouled with human feces, then the bacterium can be massively virulent, and in fact is rewarded for being so as its progeny come pouring out of the dying bodies of its victims and into the water supply.
One of the highlights of the book is Chapter Four, "The Magnificent Defense" in which Ewald describes the immune system and how it works in language that is vivid and easy to comprehend. In a startlingly apt analogy he compares the immune system to our brain. Both are incredibly complex systems constructed through the laborious trial and error mechanism of evolution. And both are "decision-making systems" (p. 67). I like this analogy and predict that researchers who have knowledge of both systems will make the scientific breakthroughs of the future. I would add that knowledge of the elaborate, brain-like social systems of bees, ants, and termites would also be valuable.
Ewald concludes the book with some guidance on how we might better co-exist with pathogens. One of the ideas is simple: stay home and don't go to work with a cold or flu. Staying home will keep the pathogen relatively benign (p. 210). He insists that we need more education about evolution in our schools, and even in college. I couldn't agree more. In the United States people that approve text books tend to be so terrified of know-nothing "creationist" types that high school biology texts typically mention evolution only as a side note, when in fact it is, as Ewald has it on page 237, "the fundamental unifying principle of biology."
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
Ewald's startling thesis is that "infection is at the root of the major chronic diseases of our time" (p. 271). These diseases include the two big killers, cancer and heart disease, and possibly Alzheimer's. His thesis is a heresy to a significant part of the medical establishment, and if correct, a revolution in the making. The conventional wisdom believes that cancer and heart disease are caused by a combination of factors including hereditary predisposition (bad genes), environmental catalysts (pollution), bad life style choices (fatty diet, alcohol, cigarettes), stress, etc. But what Ewald is saying is that there is a bacterium or a virus that causes these chronic diseases.
One of the powerful ideas behind Ewald's belief is the growing realization from evolutionary medicine that a major human disease cannot possibly be caused by bad genes since natural selection would have weeded them out long ago (pp. 55-56). Diseases caused by bad genes can only occur in a small percentage of a given population. The only exception would be a "bad gene" that has a compensating adaptive characteristic, such as the gene for sickle cells which confers immunity to malaria. Consequently, "the best bet is that they [chronic diseases] have infectious causes" (p. 56).
The practical evidence, evidence that has been consistently explained away or ignored, is the actual presence of disease agents in the tissues. Thus cervical cancer is now known to be caused by a papillomavirus that hides in the tumors and as such is a sexually transmitted disease. Peptic ulcers are now known to be caused by a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, and not worry or stress or booze, although these may be contributing factors. Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria are increasingly being implicated in heart disease. In Chapter Eight, Ewald makes the case for C. pneumoniae being the cause not only of atherosclerosis but Alzheimer's disease as well! Again, if correct, this is a revolution. The interesting (and terrible) thing about the peptic ulcer story is that it was known as long ago as the forties that peptic ulcers could be successfully treated with antibiotics, but that knowledge somehow became lost (!) until the early nineties (p. 99).
There is more: Ewald reports that Japanese researchers found the Borna disease virus "in one third of their patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome" and that this same virus "has been implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder" (p. 162). I would not be surprised to learn that other chronic diseases of unclear etiology such as fibromyalgia, certain kinds of arthritis, and even unexplained chronic pain are caused or at least initiated by infectious agents, probably viruses. (Actually I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a new kind of infectious agent, something smaller and stealthier than a virus is the cause of some human diseases. But then I used to write science fiction.)
One of Ewald's main arguments is that we can lessen the virulence of pathogens by the way we interact with them. An insight from evolutionary medicine is that a pathogen cannot afford to kill its host before it can spread from that host. However, if it can spread from the dead corpse of its host, then it can be as virulent as it likes. In places in the world where there are no screens and mosquitoes have easy access to their victims, the malaria protozoan tends to weaken its victims so much they can't even swat mosquitoes (protecting its vector!). However in areas where the buildings are made mosquito proof, the protozoan dare not be so virulent since the mosquitoes can only get to the hosts that are still able to be up and out of doors. Similarly, sexually transmitted diseases are more benign in populations that tend to be monogamous or to change partners infrequently. In populations that practice promiscuous sex frequently, the pathogen can afford to be very nasty because it will get transmitted often. But if the host is not going to be having sex with anyone new or soon, the germ must be nice and bide its time without knocking its host out of action. This principle also applies to cholera. If people have access to clean water the cholera bacterium must be relatively benign because it is going to take a long time to get passed on. But if the water supply is befouled with human feces, then the bacterium can be massively virulent, and in fact is rewarded for being so as its progeny come pouring out of the dying bodies of its victims and into the water supply.
One of the highlights of the book is Chapter Four, "The Magnificent Defense" in which Ewald describes the immune system and how it works in language that is vivid and easy to comprehend. In a startlingly apt analogy he compares the immune system to our brain. Both are incredibly complex systems constructed through the laborious trial and error mechanism of evolution. And both are "decision-making systems" (p. 67). I like this analogy and predict that researchers who have knowledge of both systems will make the scientific breakthroughs of the future. I would add that knowledge of the elaborate, brain-like social systems of bees, ants, and termites would also be valuable.
Ewald concludes the book with some guidance on how we might better co-exist with pathogens. One of the ideas is simple: stay home and don't go to work with a cold or flu. Staying home will keep the pathogen relatively benign (p. 210). He insists that we need more education about evolution in our schools, and even in college. I couldn't agree more. In the United States people that approve text books tend to be so terrified of know-nothing "creationist" types that high school biology texts typically mention evolution only as a side note, when in fact it is, as Ewald has it on page 237, "the fundamental unifying principle of biology."
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
May 17, 2012
so far I agree this is really an interesting book at many levels. It really comes home how ignorant we are of the workings of our bodies. When I say we I mean both is as lay people and even doctors and scientists. We are just at the cusp of the research that will be done.
July 24, 2024
I read this book back around 2001, and was moderately impressed.
I made a limited attempt to spread Ewald's theory. But I stopped when someone pointed to evidence that mice raised in a sterile environment developed most of the same chronic diseases.
I now see that it was a serious mistake to be dissuaded so easily.
Mark Lintern's excellent book The Cancer Resolution? provides compelling evidence that fungal infections play an important role in causing cancer. Much of that evidence was not available when Plague Time was written.
Lintern points out that there are many microbes that aren't detected by the tests that supposedly confirmed that the mice were microbe-free, so we should wonder whether those experiments demonstrated much.
I made a limited attempt to spread Ewald's theory. But I stopped when someone pointed to evidence that mice raised in a sterile environment developed most of the same chronic diseases.
I now see that it was a serious mistake to be dissuaded so easily.
Mark Lintern's excellent book The Cancer Resolution? provides compelling evidence that fungal infections play an important role in causing cancer. Much of that evidence was not available when Plague Time was written.
Lintern points out that there are many microbes that aren't detected by the tests that supposedly confirmed that the mice were microbe-free, so we should wonder whether those experiments demonstrated much.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews