The Biology of Human Survival : Life and Death in Extreme Environments.

Intro -- Contents -- 1. The Human Environment -- The nature of human physical boundaries -- The importance of preparation for extreme exposures -- Some basic concepts of survival analysis -- Characteristics of life-support systems -- 2. Survival and Adaptation -- The science of human physiology -- Principles of physiological regulation and adaptation -- Defining physiological adaptation to the environment -- Acclimatization and acclimation -- 3. Cross-Acclimation -- The complexity of adaptation to environment -- Positive and negative cross-acclimation -- Biochemical mediators of physiological adaptation -- Stress proteins and the stress response -- 4. Food for Thought -- A brief overview of human starvation -- Starvation: an affliction of the very young and the very old -- Assessing the severity of starvation -- Why children die of starvation -- Other critical factors in human starvation -- Starvation and obesity: strange bedfellows -- The molecular basis of obesity and hunger -- 5. Water and Salt -- The composition of body water -- Why do human food and water requirements differ? -- The body's minimum daily water requirements -- The mechanism of dehydration and the body's responses -- Dehydration and heat tolerance -- Survival time without drinking water -- 6. Water That Makes Men Mad -- The composition of seawater -- Ingestion of seawater -- Survival at sea -- Lessons from the USS Indianapolis -- A practical approach to salt and water loss at sea -- 7. Tolerance to Heat -- Mammalian homeothermy -- Humans as tropical primates -- Body heat balance -- Heat acclimatization -- Heat acclimatization and physical fitness -- The limitations of human tolerance to heat -- Heat illnesses -- Death by heatstroke -- 8. Endless Oceans of Sand -- The camel and the Berber -- Desert lessons from Pablo and the Haj -- Thermal stress and behavior.

Importance and regulation of heat-escape activities -- 9. Hypothermia -- The effects of extreme cold on the extremities -- Settings for systemic hypothermia -- The physiology of hypothermia -- Unexpected effects of cold and hypothermia -- The subtle effect of winter on human mortality -- 10. Life and Death on the Crystal Desert -- Life in Antarctica -- The race for the South Pole -- Failure to adapt to Antarctic conditions -- Engineering out the need to tolerate cold -- Human acclimation to cold -- Estivation -- Hibernation -- Hibernation, energy conservation, and suspended animation -- 11. Survival in Cold Water -- The sinking of the Titanic -- Water temperature and human survival -- Prediction of survival time in cold water -- Survival behavior in cold water -- Hypothermia in deep sea diving -- Respiratory heat losses and slow cooling -- 12. Air as Good as We Deserve -- Life in an oxidizing atmosphere -- Biological oxidations and oxygen toxicity -- Antioxidant defenses and the oxidant-antioxidant balance -- The free radical theory of aging -- 13. Bends and Rapture of the Deep -- Decompression sickness -- Rapture of the deep -- Pressure reversal of anesthesia and the high-pressure nervous syndrome -- Implications of high pressure for human life on other planets -- 14. Sunken Submarines -- The sinking of the Kursk -- The debate over submarine escape -- The physics of submarine disasters -- Analysis of survival factors on sunken submarines -- 15. Climbing Higher -- The physical environment of high altitude -- Physiological responses to high altitude -- High-altitude illnesses -- The zone of death -- Limits of human ascent to high altitude -- 16. Into the Wild Blue Yonder -- The International Standard Atmosphere -- Human visitation to the stratosphere -- Depressurization accidents -- The Armstrong line -- The pressure suit -- 17. G Whiz.

The continuity principle -- Gravity and acceleration -- High-G environments -- Limits of high-G tolerance -- Adaptation to sustained G forces -- 18. The Gravity of Microgravity -- Space sickness -- Intolerance of upright posture -- Loss of bone mass in space -- Loss of muscle mass in space -- 19. Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Biological and chemical warfare agents -- Thermonuclear weapons -- Types of radiation -- Biological effects of radiation -- Radiation and the human body -- 20. Human Prospects for Colonizing Space -- Advanced life-support systems -- Mission to Mars -- Habitability factors in long-duration spaceflight -- Deleterious effects of long-term exposure to microgravity -- Effects of life in space on human immunity -- Long-term effects of radiation on human life in space -- Establishment of permanent human populations in space -- Bibliography and Supplemental Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.

This fascinating book explains how humans can live in extreme environments from a physiologist's perspective, using modern concepts of stress, tolerance and adaptation. The book examines how individuals cope with life under extremes of immersion, heat, cold and altitude, emphasizing the body's recognition of stress and the brain's role in the responses needed to escape or to adapt. It also explores how humanity deals with problems of adaptation, first by trial and error, then by scientific experimentation, and finally through technological innovation.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.