Summary
Contents
Subject index
The SAGE Handbook of Health Psychology represents a landmark work in the field, gathering together in a single volume contributions from an internationally renowned group of scholars. It provides a definitive, one-stop, authoritative guide to the major themes and debates in health psychology, both past and present, and should in time become a classic reference work for a wide, international readership. Its coverage is comprehensive, both traditional and innovative, and reflects the latest in global health psychology research from a wide perspective. This includes the latest work in epidemiology of health and illness, health-related cognitions, chronic illness, interventions in changing health behaviour, research methods in health psychology and biological mechanisms of health and disease. As a result its potential as an authoritative entry point to those new to the discipline as well as those already working inside it is very high. Given its breadth of content and accessibility, the Handbook will be indispensable for advanced students as well as researchers. Expertly organized by editors of international stature, and authored by a similar team of luminaries in the field, this single volume Handbook is an essential purchase for individuals and librarians worldwide.
Biological Mechanisms of Health and Disease
Biological Mechanisms of Health and Disease
Introduction
The emergence and success of behavioral medicine and health psychology have been due in part to the changing nature of health and disease over the past 100 years. This is evident in several aspects of modern medicine. The nature of health threats has changed, from infectious diseases like influenza to chronic illness and cancer. Life expectancy has increased substantially and gains of 50 per cent or more have been attributed to the elimination of polio, tuberculosis, influenza, and smallpox (Matarazzo, 1984). A 1979 Surgeon General's Report in the US estimated that, in 1900, for every 100,000 people there were about 480 deaths per year due to influenza, diphtheria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other infectious illnesses ...
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