Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself [Paperback]

Robert G. Lahita (Author), Ina L. Yalof (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2005

A cutting-edge examination of the mysterious world of autoimmune disease—and the new discoveries made daily that may save women's lives

Autoimmune diseases—including chronic fatigue syndrome, vasculitis, juvenile diabetes, alopecia, Graves' disease, Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis—are among the most devastating conditions afflicting women today and the most resistant to diagnosis and treatment. In all of them, the body's immune system begins to attack healthy and normally functioning cells. And one of the biggest puzzles is why 80 percent of autoimmune disease sufferers are women. In this groundbreaking book, world-class immunologist Dr. Robert Lahita brings years of intensive research, patient care, and diagnostics to shed light on the mysteries of these conditions, with a particular focus on how they affect—and how he treats—women.

Through case studies, he reveals the early warning signs, symptoms, diagnostic processes, and the most innovative treatments for all the most common—and many of the less well known—autoimmune diseases. He offers a scientifically sound and sensitive work that is the best resource available to help understand these perplexing and debilitating diseases.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lahita, a doctor who wrote the textbook on autoimmune disease for medical professionals, as well as a layperson's book on rheumatoid arthritis , concentrates here on how autoimmune diseases afflict women, who make up 75% of cases nationwide. A healthy immune system defends the body from antigens such as viruses and bacteria. But sometimes the immune system erroneously attacks healthy cells, leading to autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and vasculitis. Lahita, aided by medical writer Yalof, draws on research and case studies to identify 16 conditions that have been categorized as autoimmune diseases (he includes chronic fatigue syndrome, though its cause remains uncertain) and describes at length the symptoms, causes and possible treatments for these debilitating ailments. Treatment is complicated, according to Lahita, since patients are often diagnosed too late because their complex symptoms mimic those of other conditions. A patient with vasculitis, for example, was first thought to have meningitis. This clearly written text should be extremely useful to people with these difficult ailments, their families and caregivers. Lahita, however, is suspicious of alternative herbal or homeopathic therapies, which he says have not been scientifically found to be effective.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert G. Lahita, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical School and chairman of medicine and vice president of the Jersey City Medical Center. He was the chairman of the conference committee of the New York Academy of Sciences and has been elected a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Rheumatology, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Royal College of Physicians in London. The Textbook of Autoimmunity, which he edited, is the seminal work on the subject for medical professionals, and he is also the editor of the recently published fourth edition of the standard textbook Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today, and Regis & Kelly. Named one of New York magazine's Best Doctors in New York for the last five consecutive years, he lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with his family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060081503
• ISBN-13: 978-0060081508
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert G. Lahita MD, PhD, FACP, FACR, FRCP, is the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He also serves as a Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School and is currently a senior attending physician at Saint Vincent's Medical Center in NYC as well and an adjunct Professor of Medicine at the New York Medical College.

The recipient of numerous research grants from the Primus Foundation, the Lupus Foundation of America and the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Lahita is internationally recognized for his clinical research in systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune diseases. His findings have been the subject of more than 170 published research articles and book chapters and over nine books.

He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Lupus International.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting overview, February 7, 2006

By 

A. K. Schauer "violinist, lover of music and ... (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself (Hardcover)

I find the book to be very reader friendly (very nice, useable set up) and some of the information can be useful. Overall I don't think this book acts as a good reference, though it's an interesting read. I found the section on multiple sclerosis to be inconsistent with information given by reputable multiple sclerosis resources (such as the National Multiple Sclerosis Society) - for example: saying there are three types of MS: remitting, progressive and benign. There are actually four types: relapsing-remitting, primary-progressive, secondary-progressive and primary-remitting (people with what he calls benign account for an extremely small percentage of MS patients). His overview of diagnosis seems a little too general as well (his case studies aren't the best examples either. Forgetting information for a test is not unusual and memory loss, like forgetting where you put your keys, is not an exaggerated senior moment, I'm sure that most people have had that happen a few times). I don't know whether his views on the disease, diagnosis and treatments are outdated or just different, but I would not recommend this as a resource - at least not for MS (maybe it's better for some of the others), even if you are just family and friends wanting to get an idea. I think there are many other books that would give a clearer more detailed view of the disease. It is an interesting read though and it's nice to see a book geared toward women and autoimmune diseases. I think he's on to something there, but I think he has more general knowledge than specific with some of the disorders.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Would have been good had it not been for inaccuracies in section on treatment of Graves' disease, September 11, 2005

By 

A reader from the UK - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself (Hardcover)

I would have rated this book 4 stars had it not been for the rather puzzling and glaring inaccuracies in the section on the treatment of Graves' disease.
To quote: "Treatment for Graves' disease includes drugs designed to block the runaway production of hormones. I generally prescribe LEVOTHYROXINE, as L-thyroxine, for this purpose", and then "Untreated, patients with Graves' disease can develop fatal complications such as cardiac rhythm disturbance, muscle weakness, electrolyte imbalances or SEVERE CONSTIPATION. Since the disease is so EASY to treat, we almost never see this kind of problem" and "It takes a fine balance of therapy to regulate Graves' disease, but once it is under control, the symptoms should be ameliorated. Patients are generally on therapy for the rest of their lives".

All the above statements would have been applicable had the writer been discussing HYPOTHYROIDISM rather than Graves' disease, which causes HYPERTHYROIDISM i.e. overactive thyroid. I find it very strange such glaring inaccuracies should have been allowed to be published, especially considering, particularly as the writer is a professor of medicine and no lay writer.

This book needs to be urgently reviewed and have the relevant inaccuracies rewritten, otherwise there will be a lot of confused lay readers. It is a shame, as the book was otherwise written in a very entertaining, engaging and readable style, with each condition being illustrated by a real live case which made all the relatively rare conditions being discussed much more relevant even to those readers who do not have these medical problems.
(I should mention I am medically qualified and was looking for a readable book on autoimmune diseases to recommend my patients).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recently diagnosed, September 25, 2010

By 

Sheiling - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself (Paperback)

Less than a month ago, after several years of seemingly unconnected, rather brief medical events, an opthalmologist, having just completed post-op followup of removal of two cataracts for me, expressed concern about my extremely dry eyes during her months of seeing me. I had no idea I had dry eyes!

She recommended testing for Sjogren's and ANAs. The Sjogren's was negative but the ANA was strongly positive and that urged me to a rheumatologtist. Those tests and his 2 hour interview along with my medical history and he *named* it: an autoimmune disease, currently labeled as an indeterminent connective tissue disease, most probably Lupus, maybe Scleroderma. More tests. And this week I see him again for a more definitive diagnosis and we'll go from there.

In the meantime I read reliable sites online (Johns Hopkins, Brigham and Women's, NIH) and, among others, read Dr. Lahita's book. The first section defines autoimmune diseases as a category - very helpful to this lay person. The second section, really the body of the book, looks at several in that category and reviews both general and specific information about each. The third and last section focuses on possible treatments. And I really liked the bibliography in which Dr. Lahita comments of the merits of various reading selections. This led me to more readings and I feel much more enlightened as I prepare for this week's appointment with the rheumatologist.