The microbiological burden on an aging host is enormous, and clinically significant. As humans are living longer there is a greater propensity to infection. This risk is substantially heightened in elderly individuals who are predisposed to infection. Do the microbiological changes that occur within and upon the host influence the process of ageing or is it the biological changes of the host that affects the host’s microbiology? Do such changes therefore affect the host’s propensity to disease? Are there ways of enhancing life expectancy by reducing certain bacteria from proliferating or conversely by enhancing the survival of beneficial bacteria? Microbiology & Aging: Clinical Manifestations encompasses a collection of reviews that highlight the significance of, and the crucial role, that microorganisms play in the human life cycle and considers the microbiology of the host in different regions of the body during the aging process.
Author(s): Steven L. Percival Ph.D. (auth.), Steven L. Percival Ph.D. (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Humana Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 348
Tags: Medical Microbiology
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
Ageing Theories, Diseases and Microorganisms....Pages 1-13
Indigenous Microbiota and Association with the Host....Pages 15-37
Infections in the Elderly....Pages 39-55
Skin Aging and Microbiology....Pages 57-94
Lung Infections and Aging....Pages 95-112
Influenza in the Elderly....Pages 113-130
Changes in Oral Microflora and Host Defences with Advanced Age....Pages 131-152
Influence of the Gut Microbiota with Ageing....Pages 153-173
A Gut Reaction: Aging Affect Gut-Associated Immunity....Pages 175-222
Clostridium and The Ageing Gut....Pages 223-262
The Significance of Helicobacter Pylori Acquisition and the Hygiene Hypothesis....Pages 263-274
Probiotics and the Ageing Gut....Pages 275-289
Microbiological Theory of Autism in Childhood....Pages 291-311
Decomposition of Human Remains....Pages 313-334
Back Matter....Pages 335-345
