Can the power of thought outwit ageing? What’s it like to be struck by lightning? Could 3D printers make body parts? These are among the intriguing questions discussed in stories that explore the stranger aspects of the human body. These 17 articles were originally published on mosaicscience.com, an online magazine created by Wellcome.

Why doesn’t the immune system fight cancer the way it does other diseases? Told through the experiences of patients, doctors and immunotherapy researchers, this is the story of the game-changing scientific discoveries that unleash our natural ability to recognize and defeat cancer.

Offering an overview of the conditions that cause pain and providing advice on how to live with, manage and treat it, this guide looks at over-the-counter and prescription medications and considers a range of alternative therapies such as acupuncture and meditation.

Beth Murison, the Director of Pain Education at the renowned Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explains how to diagnose and manage different types of back pain, such as muscle injuries, slipped discs and sciatic nerve compressions. With the aid of detailed illustrations, she outlines the medical, surgical, therapeutic and alternative treatments that are most appropriate for each condition and highlights commonly misdiagnosed issues.

Designed to support the body's digestive, respiratory, nervous and endocrine systems, increase energy levels and create an overall sense of well-being, this collection of recipes, including a Turmeric Tonic and Homemade Probiotic, is inspired by traditional medicines from the East. The volume also includes an ailments guide, an extensive glossary of everyday herbs and spices and a list of kitchen staples to keep in stock.

The acclaimed puzzle and brain training expert, author of The Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book and the BrainedUp.com website, Dr Gareth Moore has devised activities and puzzles to help ageing brains stay sharp and reduce the memory-related effects of getting older. After a simple introduction to how the brain works and how it changes, there are chapters on keeping your brain fit, and advice and exercises for memory, learning, staying positive and concentration.

This groundbreaking work on the science of mood disorders by the distinguished psychiatrist Peter Whybrow has now been updated to include the latest research and considers how the culture surrounding mental illness has progressed since the book was first published in 1997.Off-mint.

The actor Stephen McGann tells the story of his family over five generations through the diseases that afflicted them. They range from the famine and smallpox that claimed the lives of infant relatives in the 19th century to the necrosis that almost killed his wife, Heidi Thomas, inspiring her to write the BBC adaptation of Call the Midwife. Combining genealogy and social history, this volume explores the effects of illness on society through the generations. Signed by the author.

William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine was an 18th-century bestseller, a self-help manual intended for those who could not afford professional medical assistance. It covered everything from hiccups to consumption but, as Robert Winston writes in his foreword, ‘most remedies in Buchan’s time remained distinctly dodgy’. Melanie King introduces a selection from his A–Z of often hair-raising advice.

Little was known about morphine and its addictive qualities when Louis Lewin published his first study of the drug in 1874, and his continued work in pharmacology and toxicology contributed greatly to the field, culminating in this classic manual, published in 1924. The book sets out detailed information on the properties and effects of all major drugs known at the time, including opium, cannabis, peyote, cocaine, coffee, cocoa and alcohol.

This guide aims to help you alter your daily routines in a range of ways, to become and stay healthy. There is guidance for assessing your risk factors, recognizing danger signs and making a plan that encompasses healthy eating, controlling your weight, exercise and having fun. The tone is upbeat and encouraging throughout. American spelling.

Beyond the data of modern scientific sleep research, the author explores every kind of information and writing about sleep, but looks particularly at how knowledge about it exists in cultural practices, rituals, oral teachings, proverbs and song. Arranged in chapters following the progress of a night’s sleep, the book discusses topics as diverse as sleeping babies and the meaning of dreams to reveal the importance of sleep and the interdependence of our waking and sleeping lives.