The Autoimmune Epidemic
Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
Hailed by Mark Hyman, MD, as “a ray of light and hope” for autoimmune sufferers, this groundbreaking book provides research and solutions for those affected by autoimmune disorders including Crohn’s disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.
In the first book of its kind, journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa examines nearly 100 debilitating autoimmune diseases—such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis—that cause the body to destroy itself, mistakenly attacking healthy cells as the immune system fights off bacteria, viruses, and other invaders. As Nakazawa share the vivid, heartbreaking stories, including her own, of people living with these mysterious, chronic, and often hard-to-diagnose illnesses, she explores the alarming and unexpected connection between this deadly crisis and the countless environmental triggers we’re exposed to every day: heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, viruses, chemicals in the foods we eat, and more.
With the help of leading experts, Nakazawa explores revolutionary preventions, treatments, and cures emerging around the world and offers practical advice for protecting your immune system and reducing your risk of autoimmune disease in the future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis all these increasingly common illnesses are autoimmune diseases in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues or nervous system. Equally alarming, as journalist Nakazawa tells us, is researchers' growing suspicion that autism may be an autoimmune disease, brought on in part by genetic predisposition, exposure of young bodies to man-made chemicals and perhaps viral triggers. Nakazawa (Does Anybody Else Look like Me?), who herself has been diagnosed with the autoimmune Guillain-Barr syndrome, tells of a lower-income Buffalo, N.Y., neighborhood where the growing number of relatively young residents with lupus led one persistent woman to discover that a lot where children played had been a dumping ground for industrial chemicals. She also chronicles the work of researchers at Johns Hopkins and other medical centers who have been able to regrow nerves using embryonic stem cells and destroy errant T cells of the immune system that have run amok. Included are suggestions for foods that may promote healthy immune response and consumer body care products to avoid. Everyone with a friend or family member with an autoimmune disease will find this a must read.
