The Immune System Out of Balance

Name: The Immune System Out of Balance
ISBN: 9787572717437

Monty LymanSichuan Science and Technology Press2025

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Word count: 336K words
Chapters: 19
ISBN: 9787572717437

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Summary

Is an allergy really a sign of a weak immune system? Why do we want nothing more than to curl up under the covers when we have a cold? Can inflammation trigger depression? In this book, Monty Lyman, a British doctor and researcher at the University of Oxford, follows The Remarkable Life of the Skin and The Painful Truth with a focus on the communication between the immune system, the brain and the gut microbiome. He calls this three-part network the body's "defence super-system," in which the brain is the hub, the immune system the frontline and the gut microbes the rear support; a breakdown in any one of these links can manifest as modern-day complaints such as allergies, chronic inflammation, recurrent infections, insomnia, anxiety or low mood. The book is divided into three parts: the first sets out the new science of the immune system and the mind, the second traces how immune imbalance feeds into modern disease, and the third offers practical everyday strategies spanning anti-inflammatory diet, regular exercise and psychological regulation. The author turns rigorous research into readable stories and metaphors, combining scientific appeal with practicality.

Editor's review

这本书最大的价值，是把“免疫力”这个常被商家和朋友圈滥用的词拉回科学轨道：免疫不是越强越好，关键在于平衡。作者蒙蒂·莱曼是牛津大学研究人员，此前两部作品分别入围英国皇家学会科学图书奖、获皇家医学会疼痛医学奖，叙事能力与专业背景都比较可靠。全书结构清楚，从“认知重构—揭示问题—给出方案”三步推进，先把大脑、免疫系统、肠道菌群作为一个整体讲清楚，再解释过敏、慢性炎症、情绪问题为何常常同时出现，最后落到抗炎生活、饮食、运动和情绪调节上。它不承诺偏方，也不贩卖焦虑，适合想把身体不适的系统性成因理清楚的普通读者。

Who it's for

A good fit for

长期过敏、反复感冒或受慢性炎症困扰，想了解背后机制的人
关注肠脑轴、饮食与情绪关系的健康爱好者
有焦虑、失眠、情绪低落困扰，希望从整体健康角度反思的人
喜欢叙事型医学人文科普的读者

Not a good fit for

想找具体疾病诊疗方案或用药指南的患者与家属
期待速成偏方、立竿见影减肥或养生法的人
只看纯学术免疫学教材与实验技术的专业人士

Reading tips

先读第一部分建立“免疫—大脑—肠道”超系统的框架，再进入疾病部分会更顺畅
读到第二部分的疾病机制时，可对照自己或家人的身体状况在书页做批注
第三部分建议每读完一章就挑一两个习惯在实际生活中试行两周
书中涉及具体研究结论的地方，留意参考文献与作者对证据强度的表述

About the publisher

Sichuan Science and Technology Press China · Founded in 1982

Sichuan Science and Technology Press features science and technology, popular science, and science fiction publishing, while also covering agricultural technology and medical and health books. In science fiction, the press has continued to release works by Liu Cixin, including The Wandering Earth: Selected Short Stories of Liu Cixin, boxed sets of Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction classics, and masterworks such as Ringworld, Snow Crash, and Minus Zero, organized into series including the Chinese Science Fiction Cornerstone Series and the World Science Fiction Masters Series. In popular science, classics such as George Gamow's One Two Three... Infinity reflect its orientation toward public science communication. Its author resources in the library include Liu Cixin, Yao Haijun, and Cheng Xi, among other science fiction and popular science editors and translators; the library contains 190 titles, classified mainly as popular science, science fiction, quality fiction, and foreign literature. Public information is limited, and the above is summarized only from the library's titles and existing profile.

Part One: An Open Mind: The Scientific Revolution in Immunology and the Mind
1 A Tale of Two Systems
2 The Hole in the Wall
3 Sickness Behavior
4 The Story of the Supersystem
5 The Mind and the Microbiome
Part Two: When Things Go Wrong: The Modern Disease Crisis Caused by Immune Imbalance
6 Friendly Fire
7 The Inflamed Mind
8 Inflammatory Thinking
9 No Man's Land
10 The Cost of War
Part Three: Resetting the Defense System: Diet, Exercise, and Psychological Regulation
11 An Anti-Inflammatory Life
12 Eat
13 Play
14 Love
Acknowledgments
References

FAQ

这本书和市面上讲免疫力的养生书有什么区别？

它不把免疫当成可“增强”的单一指标，而是强调免疫系统与大脑、肠道菌群构成相互牵制的系统，疾病多源于失衡而非“太弱”，结论也更多来自科学研究而非经验偏方。

没有医学背景能读懂吗？

可以。作者是科普写作者，善用故事和比喻解释机制，书中专业术语不多；遇到陌生概念可先跳过细读结论，第二、三部分实用性较强。

书里讲了哪些具体健康话题？

涵盖炎症与抑郁、肠道微生物对行为的影响、过敏的本质、慢性压力造成的炎症、患病时的行为退缩等内容，并给出抗炎饮食、运动与心理调节方面的建议。

作者还写过什么书？

蒙蒂·莱曼的第一部作品《皮肤的非凡生命》（也译作《皮肤的秘密》相关版本）入围英国皇家学会科学图书奖；第二部《疼痛的真相》（又译作《疼痛的奥秘》）获皇家医学会疼痛医学奖。

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