Immunotoxicity, Immune Dysfunction, and Chronic Disease

Immunotoxicity, Immune Dysfunction, and Chronic Disease is among the first books to illustrate the linkage between environmental risk factors (e.g., chemicals, drugs, diet, lifestyles), environmentally-induced immune dysfunction and the full range of resulting chronic diseases and conditions. There is a detailed discussion of specific immune-based chronic diseases and conditions that emerge in children and adults and affect different physiological systems. The book integrates a consideration of risk factors and specific immunotoxic alterations with disease outcomes. A significant number of diseases and conditions are discussed, such as systemic allergic diseases affecting the lung, skin and gastrointestinal tract, systemic autoimmune diseases (type 1 diabetes,multiple sclerosis and lupus) and chronic conditions that are not traditionally associated with chemically-mediated immunomodulation (depression, frailty, and atherosclerosis). Inflammatory dysregulation is a commonthread that connects many of the diseases and conditions discussed in this book and provides a central focus.  Individual chapters are organized by disease with the addition of chapters that provide integrative information on: 1) patterns of disease comorbidities and 2) the safety testing of chemicals and drugs to reduce the risk of immune dysfunction.  Each chapter contains a summary of key points as well as recommendations when appropriate. The book stresses the benefits of identifying the environmental risk factors of immune-mediated chronic disease and the potential to reduce the prevalence of these diseases and conditions.  This volume is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, risk assessors and regulators and students.