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.
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Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
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 I don't know whether his views on the disease, diagnosis and treatments are outdated or just different, but I would not recommend this as a resource - at least not for MS (maybe it's better for some of the others), even if you are just family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.
