Book Review

Excerpt

This is a surprisingly good read. Despite my life-long allergies and asthma, and my professional life as a pulmonary physician, I had not expected to like this book. In part, this was because I was uninformed about the important history of allergies and asthma in the United States, and even its importance to my specialty of pulmonary medicine. In fact, Gregg Mitman has turned out a very informative and helpful book for anyone interested in health and the environment. Allergies, to my surprise, are a rich part of American history, and Mr. Mitman engages the reader right from the outset. This well-written book provides a rational scientific basis for the explosion of allergic diseases in the past 150 years and how society has adapted with the times, especially before effective pharmaceuticals and other therapies were available. …