Product Description

Now in a third edition, Robert M. Sapolsky's acclaimed and successful Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers features new chapters on how stress affects sleep and addiction, as well as new insights into anxiety and personality disorder and the impact of spirituality on managing stress. As Sapolsky explains, most of us do not lie awake at night worrying about whether we have leprosy or malaria. Instead, the diseases we fear - and the ones that plague us now - are illnesses brought on by the slow accumulation of damage, such as heart disease and cancer. When we worry or experience stress, our body turns on the same physiological responses that an animal's does, but we do not resolve conflict in the same way - through fighting or fleeing. Over time, this activation of a stress response makes us literally sick. Combining cutting-edge research with a healthy dose of good humour and practical advice, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers explains how prolonged stress causes or intensifies a range of physical and mental afflictions, including depression, ulcers, colitis, heart disease, and more. It also provides essential guidance to controlling our stress responses. This new edition promises to be the most comprehensive and engaging one yet.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10757 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

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

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Customer Reviews

Understanding the anatomy of stress... and life
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.

Wow, he made stress interesting!
As a Msc Health Psychology student, with a background in the 'psychology' but none in the the 'health' I've really struggled to understand all the terms thrown around in class. I had no idea how the immune system worked, and to be frank I didn't care.

But the author writes in a way that not only helps your understanding but also makes you laugh and want to learn at the same time.

An absolute must for anyone studying stress, coping and disease, an probably an entertaining read even if you're not.

A lively scientific report on stress
Your body is a sophisticated machine. If it were an automobile, it would be a top-of-the-line, luxury-class vehicle with all of the latest options. There's just one problem: Your body was designed for the savannas of Africa, not the streets and sidewalks of some urban metropolis. This is a major issue due to one of your body's great fail-safe systems: the stress-response mechanism, also called the "fight-or-flight syndrome." This mechanism provides your body with its best chance to get away safely from sudden peril, such as when a lion attacks you. It immediately floods your muscles with robust energy. Thus strengthened, you are far more able to evade the hungry predator. Unfortunately, this same stress-response also kicks in during psychological stress. In much of modern city life (even without stalking lions), such stress is often chronic, making your stress-response mechanism work dangerously overtime, and putting your body at risk of numerous stress-related disorders and diseases. Robert M. Sapolsky, a leading neuroendocrinologist, explains it all in this lively and entertaining, yet highly informative book. He writes with delightful, ironic verve and dry, irrepressible wit. He details how chronic stress can undermine your health, and explains what you can do about it, even in the urban jungle. getAbstract feels calmer just suggesting that anyone experiencing stress could benefit from reading this book.