Review: Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World

by Theresa MacPhail

Well, darn. I thought I'd love this and write a glowing review; instead I just liked it and have nothing to say. But I'll try...

She did a good job synthesizing a lot of research and coming up with a lot of good information on the current state of allergies--understanding, diagnosing, and treatment. And some information on the treatments of the future. The material was well presented and pretty much well organized.

Some very interesting things to learn, if you don't know already--the skin tests for allergies are pretty much useless in a whole lot of cases.  That was some interesting stuff, but I'd have been happy with a quick summary instead of the great detail to which she descended. And the "no peanuts to babies" theory is pretty much a bunch of bunk, and probably caused a lot more peanut allergies than it prevented.

So if you're an allergy sufferer or care for people who are (pretty much all of us), you'll find some interesting stuff here.  I got a little bored at times, sorry to admit. But it's still worth reading.