What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Autoimmune Disorders

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAR 1, 2003

The immune system is a scapegoat for a variety of ills in this wide-ranging but tendentious guide to approaching diseases like lupus, Crohn's disease, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis. The author argues that autoimmune disorders, in which a malfunctioning immune system attacks healthy tissues, are caused or triggered by environmental toxins, especially heavy metals and free radicals. Drawing on his experience treating patients for the above disorders as well as chronic fatigue syndrome and autism, he recommends a variety of unconventional regimens to purge toxins from our bodies and surroundings, including chelation therapy, herb, vitamin and anti-oxidant supplements, an organic diet free of additives and allergens, sauna and massage, and the systematic use of air and water filters. Edelson provides detailed information in chapters covering specific autoimmune disorders, but his claims of a"fantastic" treatment record for some of them rely on anecdotal case studies of diseases that sometimes go into spontaneous remission. By the tenets of"clinical molecular medicine," he claims,"I don't need to know the specific autoimmune disorder a patient has, because the label doesn't matter." Since no specific disease label need be applied, such widespread and indeterminate"symptoms" as"fatigue,""depression,""muscle and joint pain,""frustration,""sparse hair,""brain fog" and"general malaise" can be construed as signs of the immune dysfunction. While this book offers information on conventional treatments and physicians, its orientation is decidedly elsewhere.