An excellent book on a subject that touches so many lives. Whether you have chronic or seasonal allergies, you want relief as quickly as possible with as few side effects as possible. Even after so many years as an allergy sufferer who spends money and time to reduce symptoms, I learned many facts that will help me. It would be an excellent book for anyone who suffers as I do.

This was a fantastic and in depth book all about allergies. I learned a ton and this book was a quick and straightforward read. Definitely a good read for anyone who suffers from allergies or knows someone else who does.

I love reading scientific books about common diseases, so this was right up my alley. The author uses proper medical terminology throughout the book to share her family history with allergies without making medical claims or trying to be a doctor. She also mentions that there is a rise in allergies because of the American obesity epidemic; many people are susceptible to food allergies because of poor, unhealthy eating habits.

This author does a fantastic job about what has helped her be the best advocate with her own history of allergies. She obviously did a lot of research on the topic and presented it well in this book. A recommended book on the subject of allergies.

Thanks to NetGalley, Theresa MacPhail and Random House Publishing Group Random House division for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available

A highly relevant title, cover, and topic. This is a popular topic in our community and will appeal to many of our library patrons. The cover art is also lovely and appealing.

Exploring allergies - what causes them, why some get them, how to treat them (which is so challenging), and escalation of new ones that continue to baffle the world. This book runs the gamut and opens up the complex and painstaking art of figuring out how to treat allergies, many of which continue to be tested and solutions found. I felt the first third of the book challenging to get through - it was a bit “ploddy” and dry. Unlike Ed Yong who makes complex information understandable, interesting, and easy to digest, I found my eyes getting crossed here. It got better as the book went on and I started to find my pace and interest growing. I’m glad I stuck with it. Overall, I learned a lot about allergies and how so much is yet a mystery, with no definitive proven direct cause/effect for many cases, but facts pointing to strong causes. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Too wordy (probably trying to make length) and information that did not need to be a full book. Thank you.

An estimated 235 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. Globally, 240 to 550 million people may suffer from a food allergy. Drug allergy may affect up to 10 percent of the world’s population and up to 20 percent of all hospitalized patients worldwide.

These are just some of the mind-boggling statistics I learned from this book. Although allergies are becoming more common, they are still shrouded in mystery. Why do they happen? How can you test for them? Is there any treatment? The author seeks answers to these and many other questions, drawing on the latest scientific discoveries and talking to specialists.

I think this book will be of interest to people who enjoy reading about medicine–and, of course, to so many of us who suffer from allergies.

Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

It seems like pretty much everyone knows someone with an allergy or has one themselves these days, which is not even including the sheer number of people who have some type of non-allergic sensitivity. But why does this happen? What is it about our environments that cause reactions ranging from mild irritations to potentially deadly anaphylaxis?

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of answers. Allergic paints a somewhat grim picture of how so many different environmental variables contribute to allergies, the limitations of currently available tests and treatments, how corporate greed limits access to these life-saving treatments, and ultimately just how little we know about allergies.

This book taught me a lot about the history and current state of allergy science. Despite being somewhat overwhelmed by just how little we know about allergies, I finished the book being somewhat optimistic in science continuing to develop to improve the lives of those with existing allergies and for more research to help us better understand what actions can be taken to help prevent allergies from developing in the first place.

This was an incredibly well-researched and well-written book about such a fascinating and important topic. Highly recommend!

A fascinating and expertly researched exploration of allergies. I especially enjoyed the interviews with allergy sufferers and experts. I'm an allergy sufferer and enjoyed learning more about this topic.

I've had allergies all my life, and for some reason, I thought that would make this book an interesting read. The fact is, I have almost zero interest in medicine. And that's what the book seems to be about—how the body reacts to allergens. Ultimately, I don't find that interesting enough to read a long book on the subject. I think it's intended for a lay audience, but the writing style isn't compelling enough for a lay audience. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The description often posted with Theresa MacPhail's Allergic ends with: "This is the story of allergies: what they are, why we have them, and what that might mean about the fate of humanity in a rapidly changing world." This seems to me a very appropriate summary of what this book covers—and covers very well.

MacPhail draws on extensive input from past medical publications, studies, and interviews with current medical, other specialists and patients, weaving a very readable collection of stories into a history of many aspects of allergies in humans. From the various types of allergies, to the medical tests to detect and identify them, to management and treatment options; how they've all evolved over time, how they all fell (and continue to fall) short, some promising recent developments, and how frustratingly elusive a true understanding of allergies continues to be.

This story is necessarily incomplete, as a full understanding of allergies and how to cure them is still nowhere in sight, but it is quite a story, sure to engage those interested in the human immune system and the ways in which it can go haywire on us, and perhaps useful background to those navigating the experience itself.

Note that this is not (and does not claim to be) a guide to treating and living better with allergies. This is a history of human understanding of allergy conditions, a "biography of allergies" as a quote on the cover puts it. So don't expect the former and then knock it for failing to deliver what it isn't. For what it is, it delivers quite well.

I really appreciated the level of detail in this book. It's an interesting topic that seems to becoming more and more complicated. I went to university of immunology so I was a bit worried that this one would be slightly too surface level for me to enjoy or learn something new, but I thought MacPhail strikes a good balance of information and explanation.

2.5 stars

This is a sort of dry prose highlighting some of the history of allergies by a medical anthropologist. While I found some points interesting, it jumps around a lot; repeating some information and contradicting other points. One of the first examples has a case where the author tries to highlight the patient is not allergic to something because the skin test came back negative. Moments later we go on the authors allergy journey where she literally has a negative skin test but has allergies, it just presents different. Opening the book this way made me just take everything with a grain of salt, especially when similar contradictions came up. It also is pretty US centric, and while the scope of “allergies” especially a book trying to cover history is broad, I think it would have been better served picking a specific focus and sticking with that to not have a sort of unbalanced, skipping around book. Parts of the history were well researched and interesting, so if that interests you I would give it a try. If you like a more straightforward and personally connected nonfiction perhaps skip this one.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting dive into a subject I didn't know much about, but I felt like the author included a bit too much for the layperson. I really enjoyed it however. I definitely look at allergies differently now. I did skim a few sections, though.

Who isn't looking for a tome on the history of allergies? This was crazy-interesting, exactly what I want in a nonfiction medical book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely think this is a timely book as allergies are such a major cause of illness. I appreciated the dialogue about autoimmune disorders. This isn't a book that will fix the systemic concerns that exist regarding allergies and health. The author presents a unique standpoint and it is a good read.

Allergic: How Our Immune System Reacts to a Changing World
By Theresa MacPhail

It’s likely that you or someone you know has an allergy. I personally suffer from season allergies and eczema, a skin allergy.

We are not alone. In fact, the author of the book was surprised by the number of people who suffer with the malady. “Approximately 40% of the entire human population already has some form of allergic condition.” That’s a lot of people!

But just what is an allergy? One definition: “A damaging immune response by the body to a substance, especially pollen, fur, a particular food, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.” A simpler definition: “Allergy occurs when a person reacts to substances in the environment that are harmless to most people. These substances are known as ‘allergens’ and are found in dust mites, pets, pollen, insects, ticks, moulds, foods and some medications.” No matter the definition, having an allergy is no fun.

The author, Theresa MacPhail, has a personal reason for her quest to discover all about allergies: her father died because of an anaphylactic shock to a bee sting. She is also an allergy sufferer herself and that led her to talk to various experts on allergies and the immune system.

This book, Allergic: How Our Immune System Reacts to a Changing World, is not a “living with your allergy” guide. Rather, it focuses on what allergies are, the history of their discovery, and the future of allergy treatments.

As someone who appreciates medical history, I really enjoyed the more historical aspects but also, as I suffer from allergies, I was appreciative of the details she went into as to just what allergies are and the various treatments.

I didn’t find this book a particularly difficult read, but it is a long book because the author makes a point of discussing the subject in great detail.

I’d recommend Allergic: How Our Immune System Reacts to a Changing World to anyone interested in the medical history of allergies or who, like me, has allergies and wants a better understanding of them. I gained a greater appreciation of the subject, even though it personally causes me great discomfort during allergy season.

4/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion which I have given here.]

This book was amazing. Such a treasure trove of science driven information regarding allergy. The book starts out with defining what allergy (more difficult than you would imagine) is and how it affects us on a molecular level. We get a historical look of how allergies were studied (food, environmental, and atopical dermatitis) and where we are today in our struggle to find safe/reliable treatments. There were many instances of direct quotes from people in the top of their fields as well as interviews from people that suffer from allergies to help bring not only professional knowledge but also the very relatable experiences of people that have to deal with severe allergies of various types. While you, the reader, may not suffer from any allergies (mild or severe) yourself, it is likely that you know someone who does; this book really helps you to understand how allergy affects quality of life.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about allergy and how it affects the body and our community around us. If you read nothing else, the last two chapters of the book are especially educational about how society as a whole perceives and treats those with allergies - something I think that everyone should read so they can check in with themselves about how we, as a society, can do better. If you are reading this book looking for help with managing your allergic reactions to things, this is NOT that kind of book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely think the writing was a bit too wordy at times- it should have been simplified for the average reader at certain points. There were also MANY lengthly paragraphs of unnecessary information, namely, the history of everything under the sun related to allergies. These could have been condensed or omitted. They took up a significant amount of the book and really took away from my enjoyment and interest in it. This book was very skimmable.

I enjoyed the discussions about allergy and immunology as well as the relationship of systematic and autoimmune disorders. I thought the descriptions of the different types of allergies as well as interviews with doctors were informative. All in all, this book is an okay source of information for anyone experiencing allergies or allergy-like reactions, but it could have been executed better. I kept waiting for a "where to go from here/how to fix the problem" that was just too little too late at that point.

This is a timely book when number of people with allergies is increasing. If you ask people what an ‘allergy’ was you will get various different answers. There is medical definition and this medical anthropologist, former journalist, associate professor gives us few definitions.

I learned a lot from this book and most of the science didn’t stick I am sure. But following are few take aways