Allergy

The History of a Modern Malady

By: Mark Jackson

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Hardcover | 1 April 2006

At a Glance

Hardcover
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22 x 15

Hardcover

$76.75

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Every spring, summer, and fall it descends on us, bringing rounds of sneezing, headaches, and stuffed noses. It attacks through foods, animals, plants, and innumerable chemical combinations. It is among the most common and potentially lethal afflictions known. It has a unique history as both a medical condition and a cultural phenomenon. It is the allergy, the subject of Mark Jackson's fascinating chronicle.

Only a century ago, allergies as we know them didn't exist. Ailments such as hay fever, asthma, and food intolerance were considered rare and non-fatal diseases that affected only the upper classes of Western society. Yet, as Jackson reveals here, what began in the early 1900s as a scorned subfield of immunology research in Europe and America exploded into great medical, cultural, and political significance by the end of that century. Allergy traces how the allergy became the archetypal "disease of civilization," a fringe malady of the wealthy that became a disorder that bridged all socioeconomic boundaries and fueled anxieties over modernization. Jackson also examines the social impact of the allergy, as it required new therapeutic treatments and diagnostic procedures and brought in vast economic rewards.

Whether cats, crabgrass, or cheese is the source of your daily misery, Jackson's engaging and in-depth historical narrative is an invaluable addition to the history of medicine as well as to the history of culture. In Allergy, sneezing readers can discover themselves at the center of deep cultural currents.

Industry Reviews

The book provides a perceptive insight into the historical development of allergy, indicating how thinking changes. It gives fascinating vignettes of key researchers involved in the history of allergy and contains some interesting anecdotes about their lives. . . . Jackson's succinct and clearly written book is aimed at the informed lay reader. He admirably avoids using jargon and scientific terminology, and gives fascinating insight into the rise in allergic diseases and how this is linked to our modern lifestyle. I recommend this book, which helps us to understand the relationship between health and the environment, and explains why modern living can be detrimental to our health.

--Peter J. Barnes "Nature" (8/1/2006 12:00:00 AM)

Wide ranging work. . . . Jackson illustrates his arguments with delightful reference to the culture and popular media of the day. . . . This book is a remarkable scholarly work that should serve as an exemplar of its genre.

--J. Henderson "British Medical Journal" (9/23/2006 12:00:00 AM)
A splendid book. . . . Conventional historians of immunology and bedside medicine may read Allergy with blinkers and find much sound scholarship, but it deserves a wider audience.--Christopher Lawrence "Times Literary Supplement" (5/18/2007 12:00:00 AM)

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Medicine Medicine in General History of Medicine History Clinical & Internal Medicine Diseases & Disorders Immunology Allergies Family & Health

Histories	p. 9
Strange reactions	p. 27
Allergy in the clinic	p. 56
The global economy of allergy	p. 103
Civilization and disease	p. 148
Resisting modernity	p. 185
Futures	p. 216
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Allergy

The History of a Modern Malady

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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