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An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases Hardcover – September 4, 2012
| Moises Velasquez-Manoff (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherScribner
- Publication dateSeptember 4, 2012
- Dimensions6 x 1.3 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101439199388
- ISBN-13978-1439199381
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- Publisher : Scribner; 1st edition (September 4, 2012)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1439199388
- ISBN-13 : 978-1439199381
- Item Weight : 1.28 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.3 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #187 in Developmental Biology (Books)
- #654 in Microbiology (Books)
- #2,785 in Medical Professional Biographies
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The second argument of the book is that re-habitation by our former passengers, parasites, might be used to treat or cure autoimmune diseases like MS, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc is equally compelling, and the author goes so far as to infect himself with hookworm.
The only place his argument was not particularly compelling was trying to tie the hygiene hypothesis to cancer ... the chapter did not convince me, though I learned quite a bit from it.
Finally, I would encourage all parents of autistic children to read this book. Whether or not you buy his argument that autism is partly an autoimmune dysfunction it doesn't hurt to try some of the things he (and others) suggest, particularly the gluten free diet that has proven so remarkably effective in autistic children.
Do you know the history of the guests you host? You should. Really. Background checks, please? This book is a thriller as well as scientific book. And the story is taking place inside of you. So you can't put the book down. You want to see what happens next. And there are hundreds of sources to prove that the thriller is a true story. It's science. And he makes you laugh.
Velasquez-Manoff is a brilliant writer who has managed to render the history of poop, guts and worms into a thrill-a- minute, page turning, funny tour de force where personal narrative, deep scholarship, poetic device and humor all acrobatically weave through the pages with aplomb. Ultimately, your world view is turned inside out and forever changed. We're all a little more than we thought we were.
For anyone who wants to know more about being a human body, learn about your roommate named Nature. Your gut (or main street prime real estate for communities of billions of critters) has squatters. An ancient relationship, their ancestors lived in your ancestors. The history of coexistence has crucial biochemical implications that are explored in this riveting book. Know your history. Know thyself. Know the history of what's inside of thyself. You won't be bored.
It is a slower read with lots of medical knowledge, but absolutely worth the time. Each chapter covered amazing new unconventional ways to combat MS, autism, arthritis, allergies, asthma, lupus, you name it. If I was diagnosed with a serious autoimmune disease, I would certainly try some of the treatments in this book.
For anyone also looking at this book vs a similar book called The Autoimmune Epidemic, the other book is good but focuses mostly on pollution and chemicals impacting our health and is a good argument that has been around for a while. This book focuses mostly on new discoveries about human interaction with parasites, viruses and bacteria. Each have their place and have good points. This book just seems to introduce more solutions, not just problems.
Moises Velasquez-Manoff writes in a humorous and comprehensive style, and brings a humble and brilliant point of view to the subject.
He follows the human evolution as told by parasites, how our DNA and our functional lives is partly the fulfillment of playing host to other life forms in our gut and throughout the body. This natural balance of co-existence changed with civilization, bringing people together in multitudes, and with the advent of cities, industrialization and modernity.
Our role as host, changed dramatically, and parasites found themselves in situations where they could literally kill thousands of their hosts and still survive. In our attempts to rid ourselves of fatal diseases, we ended up cleansing ourselves of parasites. Unknowningly, this left a vital part of our function as humans without a job to do- to host parasites. Our bodies are in an unusual state of shock as a result, and so begins the journey into understanding allergies and autoimmune diseases.








