- Perfect Paperback: 445 pages
- Publisher: W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd; 2nd Revised edition edition (8 July 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0716732106
- ISBN-13: 978-0716732105
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 395,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Why don't zebras get ulcers--or heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases--when people do? In a fascinating look at the science of stress, biologist Robert Sapolsky presents an intriguing case: that people develop such diseases partly because our bodies aren't designed for the constant stresses of a modern-day life--like sitting in daily traffic jams or growing up in poverty. Rather, they seem more built for the kind of short-term stress faced by a zebra--like outrunning a lion.
With wit, graceful writing and a sprinkling of Far Side cartoons, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers makes understanding the science of stress an adventure in discovery.
This book is a primer about stress, stress-related disease, and the mechanisms of coping with stress. How is it that our bodies can adapt to some stressful emergencies, while other ones make us sick? Why are some of us especially vulnerable to stress-related diseases, and what does that have to do with our personalities?Sapolsky, a Stanford University neuroscientist, explores the role of stress in heart disease, diabetes, growth retardation, memory loss and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. He cites tantalising studies of hyenas, baboons and rodents, as well as of people of different cultures, to vividly make his points. And Sapolsky concludes with a hopeful chapter, titled "Managing Stress". Although he doesn't subscribe to the school of thought that hope cures all disease, Sapolsky highlights the studies that suggest we do have some control over stress-related ailments, based on how we perceive the stress and the kinds of social support we have. --Christine Buckland
Product Description
Using amusing anecdotes to present the scientific facts of stress, the author explains how the nervous system responds to stress and how stress can affect everything from digestion, circulation and cancer growth to sex, mood and aging. The new, updated version includes chapters on stress and poverty, stress and memory, stress and personality and how to cope with stress.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Understanding the anatomy of stress... and life,
By A Customer
This review is from: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Guide to Stress, Stress-related Diseases and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Perfect Paperback)
I had the fortune of being introduced to Robert Sapolsky during a lecture he gave to a business course I was attending. Reading his book, I was pleased that his fabulous story telling skills had translated so well to print. His dry humour and alert eye for the unusual guides the reader through the anatomy of stress leaving the reader with a new understanding of what happens to us. I especially enjoy Sapolsky's comparisons between humans and baboons, whom he studies a quarter of the year as well as being professor in biology and neurology at Stanford University. An example of this is that people who work in badly paid jobs, under bullying seniors have a tendency to suffer ulcers.... just like a lowly baboon constantly being picked on. After taking us through the results of stress - impotence, weight problems, reduced growth, heart trouble and much more - the book thankfully ends with some well researched tips on how to cope with stress... like a zebra. This is a book that I would read again, just for the entertainment value, and never cease to recommend to friends and colleagues.
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In-depth study of the physiological signs of stress,
By A Customer
This review is from: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Guide to Stress, Stress-related Diseases and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Perfect Paperback)
The book goes through all the physiological signs of stress both in humans and animal, and shows how they are connected. The author tells about the experiments that has been made and why. Over and over again he tells how inconveniently the stress response is for humans in the Western world today. Unfortunately, he goes not give many ideas on how to avoid it or make it better. The book is mostly for professional persons, who are interested in all the physiological names and functions. This is not a book for people just interested in how stress works, because of all the latin and theories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews) 82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Those smart zebras,
By Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Guide to Stress, Stress-related Diseases and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Perfect Paperback)
This is possibly the best anatomy-phys book I've ever read, and as a nurse I've read a few! Now don't get stressed out here! I truely mean it, this one is fun. No formulae to memorize, no complicated Krebs Cycles to navigate, no difficult Latin origin and insertion sites to locate, just pure fun. The author has the knack--no let's call it for what it really is, a rare gift--for taking the dry facts of biological functioning and making an amusing but clearly informative tale of it all. Dr Sapolsky has a purpose beyond the mere dissemination of information on anatomy physiology of humans, zebras, lab rats, or baboons to the lay person. His intention is to show that the modern lifestyle, and how the individual reacts to it, can have a major impact on health and even on the economy of the country. I'd recommend the book to anyone with an interest in how the body works as wonderfully as it does, to those who wonder why they get sick when they're stressed out but their neighbor never seems to, to those who want to lead a healthier lifestyle and need a little background information to get started, and to high school or college students who can't quite get into that biology class because the content seems too difficult--or just plain too boring--to manage.
131 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging, entertaining, and educational,
By Joe Holzhauer (holzhauerj@missouri.edu) - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Guide to Stress, Stress-related Diseases and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Perfect Paperback)
As a veterinary student, I was searching the shelves of our library looking for a different book when I stumbled onto Sapolsky's work. Intrigued by the title, I read through the preface and was immediately hooked. I checked the book out and read it cover to cover that night--in spite of my other responsibilities.Sapolsky has a true talent for simplifying the complex, without patronizing the reader or diluting the facts. Even with a few years of vet school behind me, I still found myself learning something from every page. Not only that, but I was looking forward to reading each page, wondering what hilarious story or anecdote would come next. I wish I had read Dr. Sapolsky's work before I had taken first-year physiology. I would have been far better off. [As a side note, I was touched by the dedication.] 42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific primer on stress and it's effect on health.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Guide to Stress, Stress-related Diseases and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Perfect Paperback)
Having sufferred a heart attack at age 50 in July 1998, I have been searching for solid credible information to explain the common question, "Why me?". Sapolosky addressed all of my difficult questions and some that I hadn't thought of. His easy to read style and humourous personality makes his serious topic more appealing. Cardiologists in my area do not accept stress as one of the major risk factors in heart disease. Having had virtually ongoing job stress and periodic family crises such depression, a brain tumour, job loss, involuntary job reassignments and now bonafide heart disease, it is my personal phsyican's opinion that "stress" is one of the major factors of heart disease and also plays a role in other serious diseases such as ulcers, colitis, memory, sex and aging and depression. Saplolsky addresses the main questions and issues in a very readable and guides the reader to options and solutions for developing a personal action plan. Highly recommended to spouses, supporters and people who are willing to acknowledge that stress might be a factor in their health. |
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