The cause and treatment of many diseases is being advanced on a molecular level, an area of science and medicine not easily understood by the average person. Lee (microbiology and biotechnology, St. Anselm Coll.; The Human Genome Project) here attempts to make sense of recent research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), focusing on the evolution of molecular and gene-based therapies for this autoimmune disease, which affects two million adults and children in the United States. Lee offers detailed scientific explanations of RA, an overview of the immune system and its role in the disease, and a description of the inflammatory sequence that launches RA. He then discusses the multibillion-dollar research efforts by universities, biotechnology centers, and the pharmaceutical industry to develop gene-based therapies and follows up with a discussion of the nature of clinical trials and a survey of therapies currently in the pharmaceutical pipeline. Lee mentions the ethical implications of human genome research but admits that it is not the intent of his book to discuss this area of debate thoroughly. Recommended for consumer health collections. Lisa L. McCormick, Jewish Hosp. Health Sciences Lib., Cincinnati
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
This discussion on RA is the most comprehensive available in layman's terms.This disease process is so complicated and the research on treatment so varied, trying to keep up on journal articles or short publications is almost impossible. This book puts more useable information between the two covers than you will find anywhere. Unlike medical journals, the disease process explanations are concise and understandable. Although the explanations are detailed and scientific and may take more than one reading to get your brain around the complex concepts, it nicely falls somewhere in between the very oversimplified information found in "arthritis" books available at bookstores and over-complicated and hard-to-read medical book information. Truly helpful is the detail about how clinical trials are conducted and the complicated sequence of events that occur in treatment research. It makes the waiting for decades for new treatments a little easier to understand. Also helpful are the briefs on current research (now a bit out of date-some of the "in trials" treatments in the book have been approved and are available) that is ongoing along with web sites so individuals can follow trials, results, research progress, etc. and even contains information on joining in some of the clinical trials. The description of the immune processes is very helpful. Not only does it help the reader understand the immune system as a whole, and the effect of this disease on the immune system, it also gives a good picture of how HIV and AIDS compares on the opposite end of the immunity spectrum (overactive vs. underactive immune system). Best of all, this book arms RA sufferers with good information to be able to take a more active role in their own treatment. Buy it for a friend who has RA or buy it for yourself. You will want to reread it several times.
