From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World

Theresa MacPhail

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jul 05, 2025 Cindy rated it liked it

Shelves: science, female-authors, non-fiction, health-and-or-food

Covering allergies and how the immune system goes awry for a general audience is challenging. MacPhail does a decent job of balancing the technical aspects with a better broad understanding, with engaging writing and interesting experts. She excels and explaining and demonstrating just how complex a topic this is, and its impact on individuals, families, and society. I am on board with her central theses: how individual and complicated treating allergies can be, and the many complex causes for t Covering allergies and how the immune system goes awry for a general audience is challenging. MacPhail does a decent job of balancing the technical aspects with a better broad understanding, with engaging writing and interesting experts. She excels and explaining and demonstrating just how complex a topic this is, and its impact on individuals, families, and society. I am on board with her central theses: how individual and complicated treating allergies can be, and the many complex causes for the increase in allergy sufferers.

Obviously this book isn't meant to be a comprehensive treatment, but I was surprised by a few omissions and choices of emphasis.

The first is the almost-omission of Xolair in favor of a lengthy discussion of Dupixent as biologic treatments. Xolair is the older of the two, and straight-up targets IgE antibodies. Dupixent is approved to treat a wider variety of conditions and is possibly more effective, however I would have expected a bit of discussion to that effect. I suspect it was because she ended up getting interviews with Sanofi/Regeneron.

Then I was disappointed that most of the book looks at food allergies and/or eczema, with a dash of allergic rhinitis. Really, there's just some minimal discussion of asthma. I understand her point of food allergies being deadly, and atopic dermatitis being a larger and life-impacting condition. However, asthma can also be deadly.

Finally, I was most concerned by the the last confusion/omission - MacPhail discusses at length oral immunotherapy for food allergies, however she doesn't make the important distinction between this and sublingual immunotherapy given as an alternative to allergy shots. A couple of times I was scratching my head because I think readers might end up being confused by the difference. In addition, there was no discussion of the controversy and differing opinions on sublingual immunotherapy vs subcutaneous immunotherapy (SLIT vs SCIT). I would have loved to read more on efficacy, treatment, etc. My understanding is that there is quite a divide in the allergy world with these two treatments, as well as the difference between seeing an allergist, and ENT, and a pulmonologist, all of whom have administered different allergy therapies to me over the years. ...more

1 like · Like · see review