Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling
Physiological, Performance, Growth, Longevity and Ecological Ramifications
Book Highlights
The following highlights the content of “Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling”. Excerpts from book reviews are located at the end of the book description. These reviews appeared in Public Health Nutrition (Cambridge University Press), British Journal of Sports Medicine, Economics and Human Biology, The Gerontologist, the Quarterly Review of Biology, and The Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine.
“Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling” is the only book to systematically evaluate the various advantages and disadvantages of increasing human height. From an individual standpoint, the book examines whether greater height leads to improved physical and mental performance, better health and greater longevity. From an ecological standpoint, the book illustrates that the number of people in the world is only half of the problem of overpopulation since 9 billion people who are taller and weigh 200 pounds consume many more resources than 9 billion people who weigh 150 pounds. From an ecological perspective, it makes little difference whether this weight is due to obesity or simply larger lean body mass.
The book also examines a variety of other topics, including the impact of nutrition on birth weight, childhood growth, early sexual maturation, adult health and longevity. Several hidden causes of obesity are also described. The evolutionary aspects of body size and its survival costs are also reviewed.
In addition, the book provides unexpected findings on how human height impacts physical performance, accident risks, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, longevity, intelligence, resource and water needs, economics, and the environment. Biological factors related to height and longevity are also discussed.
The evidence presented includes a wide variety of studies, very large population samples, and diverse populations. The chapters are listed on the next page and the book contains over 1000 peer-reviewed references. However, the material covered in the book is based on over 5000 references.
No other book provides:
(1) a systematic overview on the ramifications of increasing body size and
(2) a wealth of little-known facts on body size and its relation to health, longevity, intelligence, physical performance, resource consumption, economics, and ecology.
Book Reviewer Comments
Several book reviewer comments are given under BOOK REVIEWS.
Chapter Contents:
- Why the Study of Human Size is Important
- Human Scaling and the Body Mass Index
- Advantages of Taller Human Height
- Advantages of Shorter Human Height
- Body Height and its Relation to Chronic Disease and Longevity
- BMI and Weight: Their Relation to Diabetes, CVD, Cancer and All-Cause Mortality
- The Obesity Epidemic, Birth weight, Rapid Growth and Superior Nutrition
- Long-lived Mutant, Gene Knockout and Transgenic Mice
- The Evolutionary Ecology of Body Size with Special Reference to Allometry and Survivorship
- Overview of Research on Giant Transgenic Mice with Emphasis on the Brain and Aging Speculations on the Evolutionary Ecology of Homo Sapiens with Special Reference to Body Size, Allometry and Survivorship, Birthweight, Height, Brain Size and Intellectual Ability
- Impact of Body Size on Resources, Pollution, the Environment and Economics
- Final Remarks on Human Size, Scaling and Ecological Implications
Appendix A: Symbols, Acronyms and Abbreviations used in text
Appendix B: Technical review of the molecular and physiological aspects relevant to body size, free radicals and aging
Index
Contributors:
Andrzej Bartke, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
C. David Rollo, Department of Biology, McMaster University, Canada
Thomas T. Samaras, Reventropy Associates, San Diego, Ca
Citation Data
The book’s citation is: Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling – Physiological, Performance, Growth, Longevity and Ecological Ramifications. Ed: T. Samaras. Publisher: Nova Science Publishers, NY, 2007. ISBN: 13 978-1-60021-408-0
Copies are usually available from:
Nova Science Publishers, New York (provides discount) – click here
Amazon.com (may be out of stock): – click here
Barnes&Noble: – click here
“These findings support an adverse effect of relative “over-nutriton” in infancy on long-term cardiovascular disease risk......and do not support the promotion of faster weight gain in infants born small for gestational age.”
A new article in Carnegie Council for Ethics
Publications of Interest
Wilhelmsen and colleagues tracked 67-year old men to 90 years of age and found that men who were shorter at 67 years tended to have better survival than taller men. See page 8 in Wilhelmsen L, Svardsudd K, Eriksson H, et al. Factors associated with reaching 90 years of age: a study of men born in 1913 in Gothenburg, Sweden. J Intern Med 2011; 269:441-451. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2010.02331
An Article in the Indian Heart Journal
Tom’s review of research findings on the health risks related to higher birth weight, rapid growth, early maturation and taller stature was recently published in the Women’s Health Bulletin. See: Samaras TT. Health risks of higher birth weight, rapid growth, early maturation and taller height. Women’s Health Bulletin. 2015 July; 2(3):e26805
An Italian Study Confirms Tom’s findings
Important findings from Sardinia show that shorter people live longer. The new study, authored by Salaris, Poulain and Samaras was recently published by the journal Biodemography and Social Biology.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is responsible for 126,000 deaths per year. A large Harvard study found that good nutrition can help you avoid this disease. For example, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish promote healthy lungs and reduce the risk. In contrast, refined grains, red meat, and cured meats increase the risk.
Source: Harvard Men’s Health Watch, 2010, vol 14, No. 7, pp 1-3.
