Publisher's Synopsis
More people in the West are likely to die of a degenerative disease than of an infection; infectious diseases such as influenza and smallpox are the killers of the Third World. The author examines patterns of disease and their changes over time throughout the world, pointing out that so-called "tropical diseases" include many formerly common in temperate countries, while "western diseases" (strokes, lung cancer) are becoming more important in urban elite groups in the Third World. The book presents a broad picture of the distribution of disease, considering the causes and interrelations between life styles, climate, food, health care and disease.
