Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World by Theresa MacPhail | 2023 | Random House | Hardcover $ 28.99
Hay fever. Peanut allergies. Eczema. Either you have an allergy, or you know someone who does. Billions of people worldwide — an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the global population — have some form of allergy; millions have one severe enough to actively endanger their health. Even more concerningly, over the last decade, the number of people diagnosed with allergy has been steadily increasing, an ever-growing medical burden on individuals, families, communities, and health care systems.
This is the story of allergies: what they are, why we have them, and what that might mean about the fate of humanity in a rapidly changing world. Because understanding what is irritating us and why will help us to craft better environments in the future — so we can all breathe easier.
Disclosure statement: I received a digital ARC of this title from the publisher.
I requested a review copy of this book for a couple of reasons. First, I am one of those billions of people who deal with allergies and related immune system weirdness, as are many of my family members and friends. Second, as a librarian for an academic medical institution, it’s practically a professional obligation for me to be interested in reading in-depth examinations of almost any healthcare-related topic.
Theresa MacPhail is a medical anthropologist, which means she studies the way human culture deals with health and healthcare. I think this presents an opportunity to write from a particularly interesting perspective on the topic of allergies — not as clinical or pharmaceutically-focused as a doctor might approach the subject, but with more real knowledge about how things like medical research or public health policies work than your average person would have.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this one, and felt like it struck a good balance between being super educational yet not getting too in-the-weeds academic. The author is careful to use correct scientific terminology and makes an effort to explain complex biological concepts, while at the same time clearly explaining those concepts and terms in a way that could probably be understood by anyone who paid attention in high school biology class — but to be clear, you do need to have actually paid attention; this is not a total-newbie level book, either.
I also appreciated that the author was clear that this book is not actually a guide on treating allergies. It covers all kinds of current and potentially future treatment options, but with the very clear context that these are just some imperfect things that work for some people but not others. The reader probably shouldn’t just drop everything and swallow the latest pill based on this info; nor should the reader feel bad about wanting to try new possible remedies for life-altering (or even -threatening) allergic symptoms.
What the book ultimately concludes is that there’s just still a lot that we don’t know about what precisely causes various types of allergies and atopic reactions, nor how to cure them, or even effectively treat them in some cases. Allergy treatment options are better now than they ever have been historically, true, but allergies are more common and more severe now than they ever have been historically, too.
I would recommend this book to anyone with allergies, or who cares about someone with allergies, who simply wants to know more about both the specific biological mechanisms behind their symptoms and the history of this field of medicine more generally — or really just anyone who loves a good deep dive into a science-y subject.
This title comes out in May, so if it sounds appealing go preorder from your fav bookshop or ask a local library to get a copy!
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Publication information: MacPhail, Theresa. Allergic: Our irritated bodies in a changing world. New York City, NY: Random House, 2023. EPUB file.
Source: ARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
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