An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases
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Description
A brilliant, groundbreaking report on the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune disease, and the controversial therapies scientists are developing to correct these disorders.
From asthma to Crohn's disease, everyone knows someone who suffers from an allergic or autoimmune disorder. And if it appears that the prevalence of these maladies has increased recently, that's because it has—to levels never before seen in human history. These days no fewer than one in five—and likely more—Americans suffers from one of these ailments. We seem newly, and bafflingly, vulnerable to immune system malfunction. Why? One possibility is that we have systematically cleaned ourselves to illness; this belief challenges deeply entrenched notions about the value of societal hygiene and the harmful nature of microbes. Yet scientists investigating the rampant immune dysfunction in the developed world have inevitably arrived at this conclusion. To address this global "epidemic of absence," they must restore the human ecosystem.
This groundbreaking book explores the promising but controversial "worm therapy"—deliberate infection with parasitic worms—in development to treat autoimmune disease. It explains why farmers' children so rarely get hay fever, why allergy is less prevalent in former Eastern Bloc countries, and how one cancer-causing bacterium may be good for us. It probes the link between autism and a dysfunctional immune system. It investigates the newly apparent fetal origins of allergic disease—that a mother's inflammatory response imprints on her unborn child, tipping the scales toward allergy.
An Epidemic of Absence is a brilliant, cutting-edge exploration of the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune diseases and the controversial, potentially groundbreaking therapies that scientists are developing to correct these disorders.
From asthma to Crohn's disease, everyone knows someone who suffers from an allergic or autoimmune disorder. And if it appears that the prevalence of these maladies has increased recently, that's because it has—to levels never before seen in human history. These days no fewer than one in five—and likely more—Americans suffers from one of these ailments. We seem newly, and bafflingly, vulnerable to immune system malfunction. Why? One possibility is that we have systematically cleaned ourselves to illness; this belief challenges deeply entrenched notions about the value of societal hygiene and the harmful nature of microbes. Yet scientists investigating the rampant immune dysfunction in the developed world have inevitably arrived at this conclusion. To address this global "epidemic of absence," they must restore the human ecosystem.
This groundbreaking book explores the promising but controversial "worm therapy"—deliberate infection with parasitic worms—in development to treat autoimmune disease. It explains why farmers' children so rarely get hay fever, why allergy is less prevalent in former Eastern Bloc countries, and how one cancer-causing bacterium may be good for us. It probes the link between autism and a dysfunctional immune system. It investigates the newly apparent fetal origins of allergic disease—that a mother's inflammatory response imprints on her unborn child, tipping the scales toward allergy.
An Epidemic of Absence is a brilliant, cutting-edge exploration of the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune diseases and the controversial, potentially groundbreaking therapies that scientists are developing to correct these disorders.
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
09/04/2012
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781439199404
ASIN:
B0061P2L5U
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Moises Velasquez-Manoff. (2012). An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases. Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Moises Velasquez-Manoff. 2012. An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases. Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Moises Velasquez-Manoff, An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases. Scribner, 2012.
MLA Citation (style guide)Moises Velasquez-Manoff. An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases. Scribner, 2012.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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| Shared Digital Collection | 1 | 1 |
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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:14:20
Date Updated:
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- A brilliant, groundbreaking report on the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune disease, and the controversial therapies scientists are developing to correct these disorders.
From asthma to Crohn's disease, everyone knows someone who suffers from an allergic or autoimmune disorder. And if it appears that the prevalence of these maladies has increased recently, that's because it has—to levels never before seen in human history. These days no fewer than one in five—and likely more—Americans suffers from one of these ailments. We seem newly, and bafflingly, vulnerable to immune system malfunction. Why? One possibility is that we have systematically cleaned ourselves to illness; this belief challenges deeply entrenched notions about the value of societal hygiene and the harmful nature of microbes. Yet scientists investigating the rampant immune dysfunction in the developed world have inevitably arrived at this conclusion. To address this global "epidemic of absence," they must restore the human ecosystem.
This groundbreaking book explores the promising but controversial "worm therapy"—deliberate infection with parasitic worms—in development to treat autoimmune disease. It explains why farmers' children so rarely get hay fever, why allergy is less prevalent in former Eastern Bloc countries, and how one cancer-causing bacterium may be good for us. It probes the link between autism and a dysfunctional immune system. It investigates the newly apparent fetal origins of allergic disease—that a mother's inflammatory response imprints on her unborn child, tipping the scales toward allergy.
An Epidemic of Absence is a brilliant, cutting-edge exploration of the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune diseases and the controversial, potentially groundbreaking therapies that scientists are developing to correct these disorders. - reviews
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We’ve spent generations cleaning up the bad organisms that once burrowed inside the human gut—but may want to put some of them back, writes science journalist Velasquez-Manoff in this ambitious survey of how evolution and ecology affect our biology and health. Allergies, asthma, type-1 diabetes, psoriasis, lupus, and celiac diseases have all become more frequent in the past 30,000 years while our exposure to parasites and microbes that normally take up residence in the gut has plummeted. But these organisms, far from being harmful, actually contribute to an ecological balance in our bodies that also balances the immune system. Velasquez-Manoff, who suffers from eczema, alopecia, and asthma, investigates the “hookworm underground” to score a supply to abate his own storm of autoimmune maladies—with queasy, mixed results. But there are more positive returns for others, including a 21-year-old woman suffering from Crohn’s disease who believes that whipworms saved her life. Velasquez-Manoff also investigates how microbes prevent allergic diseases and may even play a role in autism. If the parasite cure seems hard to swallow, the message is not: medicine will have to take account of patients’ inner and outer ecology if we’re ever to unravel the cause and treatment of disease. Agent: Kristine Dahl, ICM.
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From asthma to Crohn's disease, everyone knows someone who suffers from an allergic or autoimmune disorder. And if it appears that the prevalence of these maladies has increased recently, that's because it has—to levels never before seen in human history. These days no fewer than one in five—and likely more—Americans suffers from one of these ailments. We seem newly, and bafflingly, vulnerable to immune system malfunction. Why? One possibility is that we have systematically cleaned ourselves to illness; this belief challenges deeply entrenched notions about the value of societal hygiene and the harmful nature of microbes. Yet scientists investigating the rampant immune dysfunction in the developed world have inevitably arrived at this conclusion. To address this global "epidemic... - sortTitle
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