An intriguing read. I wouldn't say that I agreed with Ehrenreich's conclusions; however, I always think it's important to explore various approaches and thoughts regarding health. I would say that her arguments actually strengthened my opinions against the conclusions she makes in 'Natural Causes'. Yes, we all will die at some point but I believe preventative healthcare is important and necessary. Overall, I was disappointed and found myself skimming several portions. I have heard great things from her previous work; however, this one has a strange, (almost conspiracist) tone. A lot of argument-for-argument's sake.

I am a huge fan of Barbara Ehrenreich and when I saw she had written a new book, I wanted to read it. The topics of health and wellness also interested me, as I loved the book Being Mortal and think the health care system as a whole could use a major overhaul. I wasn't completely wowed by this book but I thought she made some excellent points. I had never thought about how so much of what is considered regular health care (annual physicals, OB/GYN appointments) are more rituals than actual fact-finding missions. The book also made me more wary of health screenings that I am supposed to get at certain ages, and I will think twice about letting the dentist take X-rays of my head the next time I go to the dentist, when all I am there for is just a teeth cleaning.

Overall a worthwhile read, but I did skim over parts that lost my interest. I will still read whatever Barbara Ehrenreich writes because I think she always takes on worthwhile topics and delivers interesting perspectives.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC in exchange for this honest review!*

Natural Causes discusses all of the things we do in order to delay the inevitable. . .death. It's truly a fascinating read that brought up things that I hadn't really thought about before, such as what appears to be the transition to worshiping the self over a deity. This is definitely a book that will make you think and examine the world around you just a little closer.

There were a few chapters that I found to drag, but the book as a whole is worth a look!

Author dissects the concept of healthy ageing and loopholes in all the healthy stuff we do to delay our death.
Author touches deep on topics like screening tests, gyms,medical gadgets,dieting, yoga, life support and all the fads around the world. She ends up somehow supporting carefree lifestyle not poking too much into your body if you feel grossly well.
Also underlines that we have very less control on our body and its cells.
Book also explores autonomy of our cells.

It's very complex and deep even if you are a doctor or biology student. Deep exploration makes book heavy. But it's breadth is comforting and reader learns a lot.

A new perspective for new generation who hopes starving will make their life longer, but it's surely not going to be better.
Nice read but expect tough pages in between.

This is a truly thought-provoking book about the over-medicalisation of our society. Ehrenreich writes convincingly that we need to take a step back from rote attendance of medical appointments. Allowing herself to age without agreeing to invasive screening and testing, she exercises instead and makes her body as strong as possible. This is an intelligent and engaging read; even when I wasn't sure I agreed with her thinking I was glad to be prompted to question my own.

I found this very hard to get into.
Having been a huge fan of Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed", I was excited to read a new title from her.
Unfortunately, this misses out a lot on the personal touch that "Nickel and Dimed" has and made for tough reading.
Ehrenreich is extremely skilled at first person narrative and putting herself literally into the situation. I would like to see more investigative and field work from her, rather than something like this.

I'm not sure how to review this book, as I'm not even sure what I read. I loved the premise and description of the book, but I don't think it met my expectations. While I enjoyed and agreed with parts of it, much of the book seemed disjointed, unrelated to the topics, rambling, and over my head. I got tired and skipped over a lot of the text. I still appreciate the opportunity to read and review Natural Causes. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

A philosophical journey through illness and the end of life, excellently researched and beautifully developed. Another excellent book from Ehrenreich.

This was interesting - at first. Then it felt like a column extended into a rant and started feeling repetitive and disagreeable... I take some of her points - we are a culture obsessed with the idea of a right to health and that is being taken to ridiculous extremes in many ways. BUT I'm not convinced by many of her arguments about false positives or discomfort traded for prevention (e.g., mammograms - which are, frankly, a minor discomfort traded for detection and in many instances elimination of early-stage breast cancer, especially when compared to the trauma of treatment and survival rates of later stage cancer). I do agree that we each have a right to make that call - as long as the treatment at issue affects our individual bodies and not, for example, herd immunity with vaccines or similar broader-impact treatments that touch others who did not agree to our choices. It's a thought-provoking book, even if I didn't agree with all the thoughts. Her writing style is easy enough to engage with, if at times slightly inflammatory for my taste.

Having been a huge fan of Ehrenreich's earlier book Nickel and Dimed, I looked forward to reading this one. I greatly appreciated the attention that book brought to the plight of the working class in society. However, I've noticed that her work has taken a much different turn ever since her breast cancer diagnosis. I didn't keep up with her career after Bright-Sided, which was a somewhat disappointing work on an interesting topic. Perhaps if I had read her 2014 book, I wouldn't have been as surprised by the negative tone her latest work takes toward God.

I am open-minded and can consider different faith perspectives if the work is well-researched and presents a valid point of view to ponder. I was hopeful about the theme of this particular book because she's discussing how the aging Baby Boomers will approach the issue of their own dying. (I'm Gen X but I still find the sociology of aging and dying to be fascinating to research.) But unfortunately, Ehrenreich's work is not as insightful as it once was and the work overall seemed much sloppier. Instead of offering any useful anaylsis or relatable anecdotes, it just seemed like the point of her book was that getting old sucks and nothing happens after we die.

Overall, a very disappointing and poorly researched book. Rather than offering insight or suggested solutions, it was just negative and depressing.

I have followed Ehrenreich for years and genuinely enjoy her analysis and breakdown of culture and identity in America. Ehrenreich brings her dry wit and sharp eye to the health and wellness industry, turning a cold shoulder to doctors and mammograms and examining why into older age, people are trying to "beat" death. This would be a great companion to Caitlin Doughty's "Smoke Get's in Your Eyes." If you are into morbid reads and critical eyes, this is definitely a great book.

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959785-natural-causes" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1520865073m/35959785.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959785-natural-causes">Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1257.Barbara_Ehrenreich">Barbara Ehrenreich</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2500150272">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />

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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/27987864-mehek-naresh">View all my reviews</a>

I typically enjoy books by this author and this one was no exception. Maybe because I’m over 50 I felt like she was directing her information directly to me. Writing about aging and prolonging life she covers a variety of topics including both fighting and preventing disease. Some of the science was a bit cumbersome, but all in all it was a good informative read.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed is one of my all-time favorite books, and I have recommended it to MANY people over the years. Several people have admitted to having their eyes opened enough that they began to see invisible workers such as hotel housekeeping staff as real people who should ALWAYS be tipped. So I happily received a copy of Natural Causes from Twelve Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The subtitle (An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer) provides clues to her message. She is not a fan of “wellness,” none of us are getting out of here alive, and the things people do to try to extend their lives may not provide any benefit at all.

I was unaware of her PhD in cellular immunology, and TBH there was way more scientific information than I could either understand or appreciate, but she is definitely qualified to speak about the human body’s immune system and how it can turn against us (easing the way for cancer cells to proliferate, for example). I do appreciate her emphasis on acceptance of death as a natural process and her encouragement to live life to its fullest rather than focus on how we might extend our lives.

She takes a fairly rigorous stance against the medical establishment and the wellness industry, emphasizing her disdain for clinicians’ assumption that patients will automatically endure many tests and (redundant or unnecessary?) procedures. I confess I got lost in her seeming to attribute the spread of mindfulness to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs wanting to sell products, and while I tend to agree with her regarding religious ideas, it’s clear these two areas will not be popular among a number of readers.

While Natural Causes isn’t for everyone (and I definitely won’t be recommending it as widely as I have done with Nickel and Dimed), it’s still a fascinating read (even humorous in places!). Three stars.

To be cliched - this book was thought provoking. Ehrenreich knows what she’s talking about (she’s got a PhD in cellular immunology), but it’s jarring to read that not getting an annual physical might actually be better for you.

A few of the later chapters are deep into the science of cellular growth, but nothing too overwhelming.

Would recommend!

I thought the subject of this book was really fascinating, however, it turned out to be a very different spin on the topic than I was expecting. Although I don't necessarily agree with Ehrenreich's views regarding the medical world, I was intrigued by the first half of the book. But after her initial views on why some medical treatments can actually harm our health, I became bored. There's a lot more scientific jargon than I was expecting, so I felt like a lot of the second half just went flying over my head. I think this book might have benefited from a more commercial tone - something that would have been easier to relate to if you're not a scientist like Ehrenreich is. I'd love to see another author tackle this topic to see if I could get more out of it.

Ehrenreich, as always, turns in a prescient and finely-crafted book that marries recent scientific knowledge to accessible and elegant writing in exploring the medicalization of aging and those who seek to reject the prolongation of life at the cost of living well.

I was disappointed in this book. The author has written other things which I have respected and enjoyed very much. This book seemed not to be well thought out, and sometimes vindictive and sarcastic. Some of her points are likely valid, but instead of backing them up with facts and reliable resources, she came off as bitter and one-sided. I hope there are more books coming from her which compare to her earlier writings.

A fascinating dive into a cultural obsession with quote-unquote health, life - and prolonging it despite knowledge of the inevitability of death. Ehrenreich explores the ways in which individuals are both explicitly and implicitly coerced into needlessly putting themselves through greater (and sometimes painful, or disturbing [read: excessive colonoscopies]) trials and tribulations all in the name of quote-unquote health, or some promise of a morally-superior lifestyle.

The book is thought-provoking, and forces readers to examine the ways in which we have been taught to view the notion of health through messages dictated - and occasionally just manufactured - by the medical establishment and other authorities and institutions of power for reasons other than our global population's actual well-being.

If you can get through some of the jargon-heavy chapters, regardless of how open you may be to reflecting on your own health behaviors or those you may instill upon others - it's an interesting, well-researched read.

This was an interesting argument about what it means to be a body, a self, and a person trying to interact with the medical industrial complex. I'm certainly intrigued to read more from the author in the future, particularly some of her most notable works (e.g. Nickel and Dimed, etc.). That being said, I think this book would have done better as a more focused work of essay or article length. As is, it feels somewhat unfocused.

"In the health-conscious mindset that has prevailed among the world's affluent people for about four decades now, health is indistinguishable from virtue, tasty foods are 'sinfully delicious,' while healthful foods may taste good enough to be advertised as 'guilt-free.' Those seeking to compensate for a lapse undertake punitive measures like fasts, purges, or diets composed of different juices carefully sequenced throughout the day.

I had a different reaction to aging: I gradually came to realize that I was old enough to die, by which I am not suggesting that each of us bears an expiration date. There is of course no fixed age at which a person ceases to be worthy of further medical investment, whether aimed at prevention or cure."

Have you ever struggled to get a medical diagnosis? Been told that you aren't sick or been dismissed by a doctor? I am guessing most people at some point in their lives have experienced this frustration, and while Barbara Ehrenreich's Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Our Illusion of Control isn't specifically about misdiagnosis, it's about the many problems involved in the healthcare industry.

Some people have written about this book as though it's merely about deciding not to have preventative care once you reach a certain age, but that's only part of the picture. Ehrenreich takes on the health industry full stop, debunking the myths that manage to still dictate patient care and revealing the industry as it is, which is that it is a business. She also unravels the wellness and mindfulness industry that pervades America right now, which severely lacks evidence to support its claims.

What I came away with after reading this book is that medicine (and the mindfulness industry), while wonderful and helpful, is still in the dark ages on certain issues, such as the immune system. We still have a lot to learn about how the immune system compromises and interacts with the rest of the body. The book also made me feel less responsible for what happens to my body, because sometimes you can do all of the right things that society tells you to do - exercise, eat well, meditate, etc. - and still end up with a body that turns on you. As Ehrenreich states:

"What is the point of minutely calibrating one's diet and time spent on the treadmill when you could be vanquished entirely by a few rogue cells within your own body?"

I like that Ehrenreich explores both the business side of medicine as well as how our culture pushes for control over one's body. Controlling one's body has become a business, whether it is one's looks, one's weight, or one's health. It's not just the medical industry that is trying to create more tests and interventions to prevent the inevitable - death - but it is also patients demanding more testing. But Ehrenreich does not see value in subjecting herself to more testing that has no evidence to prolong people's lives when they get to old age. She writes:

"I reject the torment of a medicalized death, but I refuse to accept a medicalized life, and my determination only deepens with age. As the time that remains to me shrinks, each month and day becomes too precious to spend in windowless waiting rooms and under the cold scrutiny of machines. Being old enough to die is an achievement, not a defeat, and the freedom it brings is worth celebrating."

Her reflections, of course, only apply to those of us healthy enough to not need regular prescriptions. It does not apply to people with chronic health issues or those who have been and are sustained by medicine. I personally know I could not get my inhalers - which I rely upon twice a day to breathe - without seeing my asthma doc at least once a year.

This review barely scrapes the surface of this book. There is so much good information here and so many thoughtful discussions about healthcare, medicine, and culture in the Western world. I think I highlighted half of the book. This is one of those books that will have a permanent place on my bookshelf for years to come (as is the case with Ehrenreich's other publications!). Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!