Allergic: How Our Immune System Reacts to a Changing World

An eye-opening investigation - combining reporting, history and cutting-edge science - into allergies and their rise in recent decades

Hay fever. Peanut allergies. Eczema. Billions of people worldwide have some form of allergy; millions have one severe enough to seriously endanger their health. And over the past decade, the number of people diagnosed with allergy has been steadily increasing, an ever-growing medical burden on individuals, families, and our health care system.

Medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhail, herself an allergy sufferer whose father died of a bee sting, set out to understand why. The result is a holistic and deeply researched examination of allergies, from their first medical description in 1819 to the mind-bending new treatments that are giving patients hope. MacPhail spent years interviewing hundreds of experts, patients and activists, in an effort to understand how recent changes in our environment and lifestyle are contributing to the dramatic rise in cases globally. Pollution, chemicals, antibiotics and, increasingly, climate change are all making our immune systems become more and more irritated. But, as she shows us in Allergic, understanding what is irritating us and why will help us to craft better environments in the future-so we can all breathe easier.

Review

Brilliantly comprehensive and highly readable... The first ever book to track both the history of allergies and the state of modern allergy science -- Rebecca Seal ― Observer

MacPhail's passion for her subject is evident as she brings to life and personalises a phenomenally complex field -- Simon Ings ― Sunday Times

Important and deeply researched... MacPhail's compassionate insights into the problem make for engrossing reading -- John J. Ross ― Wall Street Journal

An exhaustive exploration of the science of allergies ― New Statesman

A fascinating account that most of us (sniffle sniffle) will find of compelling interest, and also a powerful reminder that what we do to the world around us eventually affects the world inside us -- Bill McKibben

Allergic is the definitive biography of allergies. This accessible, comprehensive and troubling portrait should be read by all who suffer and those who care about them, which, as MacPhail so carefully documents, is such an astounding number that it includes almost all of us -- Michael Moss, author of SALT SUGAR FAT and HOOKED

Allergic is just the sort of thoughtful, comprehensible and comprehensive book we urgently need to understand how rapidly changing modern environments are interacting with our ancient immune systems to cause a frightening explosion in allergies -- Daniel Lieberman

An astute, empathetic, and wonderfully informative investigation. Theresa MacPhail makes a persuasive case that cooperation-with each other, and with our internal ecosystems-is the key to relief -- Michelle Nijhuis, author of BELOVED BEASTS: FIGHTING FOR LIFE IN AN AGE OF EXTINCTION

Comprehensively researched, deftly told, and radiating both intellect and passion, Allergicis essential reading for anyone interested in our bodies and our world. I am grateful to have this book to share with my allergy patients -- Kari Nadeau, Director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University

In Allergic MacPhail seeks to understand the effect allergies have on us individually and socially, as well as to explore the latest ideas for treatments and therapies… MacPhail does a marvellous job of conveying that complexity to the general reader ― the TLS

About the Author

Dr. Theresa MacPhail is a medical anthropologist, former journalist, and associate professor of science and technology studies who researches and writes about global health, biomedicine, and disease. She holds PhDs from the University of California - Berkeley and University of California San Francisco.