Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice–How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.kristinloberg.com/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
SKETCHWRITER NOTES:
She is a self-described “professional collaborator”/glorified ghostwriter, not an author. She did not contribute content to any of these books ascribed to her, and none of the reviews mention her.
LC control no.: no2012008493
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2012008493
HEADING: Loberg, Kristin
000 00342cz a2200121n 450
001 8882253
005 20131112143936.0
008 120119n| azannaabn |n aaa c
010 __ |a no2012008493
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca09090143
040 __ |a IGuWNP |b eng |e rda |c IGuWNP |d DLC
100 1_ |a Loberg, Kristin
670 __ |a The end of illness, 2012, c2011: |b t.p. (Kristin Loberg)
PERSONAL
Married; children: two sons.
EDUCATION:Cornell University, B.A., 1997.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Silver Lake Publishing, editor, 1999-2004; Point of Origin, professional writer, editor, and collaborator on book projects, 2004–. Los Angeles Editors and Writers Group, member; University of California, Los Angeles, extension instructor.
AVOCATIONS:Tri-athlete, wine connoiseur.
MEMBER:Authors Guild, Authors League of America, PEN.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Kristin Loberg describes herself as a collaborator: a professional writer and editor who takes the raw material provided by a primary author in whatever format it is delivered. She then designs an appropriate architectural structure for the book that will contain it. Loberg works closely with the author to blend all of the material into a cohesive document, crafting the content to reflect the author’s unique “voice”. The extent of her participation in the “wordcraft” elevates Loberg’s work above the level of copy editing for accuracy, consistency, and readability, and grants her the status of coauthor.
Loberg’s objective is to create user-friendly volumes that convey scientific information in an interesting and helpful way to a general audience. Her preferred subject matter includes popular psychology, science, health and fitness, and self-help guides, but she also works with authors of business, finance, and other nonfiction books. She has succeeded in producing a number of books that became bestsellers.
Loberg graduated from Cornell University with a strong background in science and medicine and the intention of entering medical school. Instead she worked as a research associate at biomedical laboratories devoted to studying enzyme kinetics, gene sequencing, and cloning. Loberg settled in the Los Angeles area, where she is affiliated with the Los Angeles Editors and Writers Group, and where she developed additional experience as a proposal writer. She occasionally teaches intensive writing workshops at the University of California extension in Los Angeles.
The End of Illness and Grain Brain
Over the years Loberg has established long-term collaborations with some of her clients, including David B. Agus, physician, oncologist, and medical technology entrepreneur in the field of proteomics. Her first collaboration with Agus resulted in The End of Illness, which rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Kent Sepkowitz described the book at Slate as a “grandmotherly” approach “to explain how we all might live to the age of ninety.” The added bonus to the usual self-help advice, he wrote, is “an interesting if self-serving foray into the futuristic world of proteomics,” the study of the proteins produced by the genes that humans inherit at conception. As a nod to Loberg’s editorial collaboration, perhaps, Washington Post contributor Perri Klass observed: “The book is at its best when it takes on complexity.” Loberg also collaborated with Agus on The Lucky Years: How to Thrive in the Brave New World of Health and A Short Guide to a Long Life.
Another of Loberg’s repeat clients is physician David Perlmutter, a “neurologist whose expertise includes gluten issues, brain health & nutrition, and preventing neurodegenerative disorders,” according to his website. Loberg worked with him on three books, beginning with Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers, which also topped the New York Times bestseller list. A Publishers Weekly contributor reported that the book links “a bewilderingly wide assortment of maladies” to gluten, a protein group found in most grains, as well as certain fruits, beer, chocolate, coffee, milkshakes, and some other surprising food items. Perlmutter blames gluten for gastrointestinal distress, attention deficit disorder, dementia, and much, much more. In addition to the doctor’s medical theories, which several critics have tagged as “controversial,” the volume also contains general advice on health and exercise, sample case studies, and gluten-free recipes. The Publishers Weekly commentator observed that the combination of information represents “a comfortably simplistic model for thinking about carbs.”
Loberg has reached a wider audience by working with a number of experts in other fields and subspecialties. With mind-body specialist Marc Schoen and educator Mike Byster she created books on psychological self-help techniques, strategies that promote emotional well-being, and brain training for enhanced mental performance. Loberg collaborated with holistic women’s health psychiatrist Kelly Brogan to counsel women on controlling depression by treating it as a symptom rather than a disease, and by focusing on lifestyle changes that don’t require medical intervention and pharmaceuticals, such as diet, sleep training, and stress reduction. With makeup artist and cosmetics developer Trish McEvoy she offered readers a scientific look at cosmetics and what the pair called “the science of beauty.”
The Obesity Paradox and Hype
Much of Loberg’s portfolio, however, is related to the issues of diet and fitness. She collaborated with cardiologist Carl J. Lavie for The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier. Lavie’s writings are often published in scientific textbooks and journals for medical professionals. Loberg’s editorial collaboration “brings his knowledge to the rest of us,” Crystal Renfro commented in Library Journal. The authors explain that the popular body-mass index (BMI) does not necessarily reflect the fitness of persons with enhanced muscular development, for instance, or others who do not fall into the middle of the statistical curve. They discuss the role of genetics in body mass and the impact of environmental factors on the optimal relationship of height to weight. Renfro called the book “a fascinating read.” A Publishers Weekly contributor predicted that a concerned reader “will likely find solace and sound advice here.” Loberg addressed a similar conundrum with Bruce Blumberg, a researcher on gene-environment interactions, in his book The Obesogen Effect: Why We Eat Less and Exercise More but Still Struggle to Lose Weight.
Loberg’s research and writing in the medical and self-help categories came together when she worked with physician-surgeon Nina Shapiro to publish Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice–How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not. The coauthors cover a wide range of issues that worry their readers, including topics that Loberg has addressed previously with other coauthors, such as the benefits and dangers of a gluten-free diet. This volume evaluates alternative treatment options such as cancer spas, debunks the warnings the vaccinations cause autism or that milk causes ear infections, and defuses the emotionally charged debates on other hot-button issues.
A Publishers Weekly contributor recommended Hype for its “skeptical, non-nonsense approach and probing assessment of fact versus fiction.” In her Booklist review, Karen Springen noted the inclusion of useful “hype alert” sidebars and a variety of medically safe “money-saving tips” to choose tap water over bottled water, for example, or replace vitamin supplements with a vitamin-rich natural diet. Terri Schlichenmeyer observed at the lgbtSr: Aged to Perfection website that the book provides the information and tools that enable readers to compare benefits to risks and make the choices that are best for each of them on an individual basis. “Even though it’s pretty no-nonsense,” she added, “it’s got a breezy feel to it and sometimes, the authors have a little fun with readers.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2018, Karen Springen, review of Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad Advice-How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not, p. 41.
California Bookwatch, July, 2015, review of Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life.
Library Journal, November 1, 2013, Barbara Bibel, review of Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers, p. 112; April 15, 2014, Crystal Renfro, review of The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier, p. 110.
Publishers Weekly, August 19, 2013, review of Grain Brain, p. 6; March 3, 2014, review of The Obesity Paradox, p. 60; February 19, 2018, review of Hype, p. 71; April 23, 2018, Corinne Lestch, review of Hype, p. 26.
ONLINE
David Perlmutter website, https://www.drperlmutter.com/ (September 6, 2018), author profile.
Fresh Fiction, http://freshfiction.com/ (September 1, 2018), author profile.
Kristin Loberg website, http://www.kristinloberg.com (September 1, 2018).
lgbtSr: Aged to Perfection, https://www.lgbtsr.org/ (June 3, 2018), Terri Schlichenmeyer, review of Hype.
Slate, http://www.slate.com/ (March 28, 2012), Kent Sepkowitz, review of The End of Illness.
University of California, Los Angeles website, http://ww.writer.uclaextension.edu/ (September 1, 2018), author profile.
Washington Post Online, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ (February 10, 2012), Perri Klass, review of The End of Illness.
Kristin Loberg
Kristin Loberg is a five-time (and counting!) New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling collaborator. As a professional writer and editor who specializes in proposals and book writing, she excels in taking experts’ knowledge and turning it into reader-friendly works for general audiences.
With more than 10 years' experience in the industry, Kristin has helped dozens of books go from concept to creation and find success in the market. In 2006 her collaboration with Phil Town resulted in the highly-reviewed #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon.com bestseller Rule #1. The much-anticipated follow-up, Payback Time, debuted #1 again on the New York Times in 2010. In 2012, Dr. David B. Agus's The End of Illness debuted at #1 on the New York Times. In the last year alone, her clients have included NY Times bestselling authors Brenda Watson and Lisa Nichols; the RealAge Institute's Dr. Amy Wechsler; world-renowned dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad; real estate guru Michael Corbett; and America’s Fitness Trainer Kathy Smith.
Kristin Loberg is a professional writer who specializes in transforming experts’ knowledge and ideas into reader-friendly works for general audiences. Multiple books on which she’s collaborated have spent weeks on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestseller lists including Grain Brain, which has enjoyed more than 50 weeks on the Times list, was one of the bestselling nonfiction books of 2014, and has been translated into thirty languages. Its follow-up, Brain Maker, debuted at #3 on the New York Times in 2015.
With nearly twenty years of experience, Kristin has helped dozens of books go from concept to creation and find success in the market. She’s worked with authors as diverse as Dr. David B. Agus (#1 bestselling The End of Illness and A Short Guide to a Long Life) to Phil Town (#1 bestsellers Rule #1 and Payback Time). She is a master at building a book’s architecture, developing compelling messages, crafting the perfect voice that reflects the author, and formulating programs with engaging hooks and widespread appeal. Her expert knowledge of the publishing industry allows her to take the frustration and managerial responsibilities out of busy authors’ hands when it comes to getting their works completed from idea to polished product. Her subject areas of interest include: health/beauty/fitness, science, business, personal finance, self-help/popular psychology, and general nonfiction.
Kristin earned her degree from Cornell University and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. She is a member of the Author’s Guild, PEN, the Los Angeles Editors and Writers Group, and is an avid triathlete and oenophile. Once in a while she teaches an intensive writing workshop at UCLA where she dispenses her secrets to penning winning proposals.
Kristin Loberg is a professional writer with multiple New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers to her credit, including Dr David Perlmutter’s Grain Brain, Dr David B. Agus’s The End of Illness, and Brenda Watson’s The Fiber35 Diet. A graduate of Cornell University, she lives in Los Angeles, California.
Kristin Loberg
Instructor Biography:
New York Times bestselling writer and editor specializing in proposals and book collaboration. Ms. Loberg’s titles include Brain Maker (Little, Brown and Company), Grain Brain (Little, Brown and Company), Payback Time (Crown), The End of Illness (Free Press), A Short Guide to a Long Life (Simon & Schuster), and The Lucky Years (Thorndike Press) among numerous others.
Instructor Statement:
Ideas may be as free as the air, but the ones that land in bestselling books must be written, pitched, packaged, and marketed well. My goal is to help you work with your ideas so you can maximize their publishing potential, whether you choose the traditional route with a publisher or go at it alone independently. I’ll guide you through a methodical process of building a book’s architecture, developing compelling messages that have engaging hooks and widespread appeal, and learning how to capitalize on your marketing and publicity strengths while downplaying your weaknesses—all of which you’ll need starting in the proposal phase. I’ll also share with you how to locate and synthesize information from a wide range of sources that you may require to create the most provocative pitch that will resonate deeply with your target audience. In a world where writers are bombarded by confusing messages about how to get their books published successfully, my insider knowledge of the industry allows me to erase that frustration and facilitate an enlightening, fun, and highly interactive journey from idea to polished product. You’ll discover things about yourself along the way that will surprise even you!
Our Students Say it Best!
“The instructor was terrific. She provided us with valuable information, listened to ideas, and provided more outside resources than I have ever had in a class.” — Writers’ Program Student
Kristin Loberg
3rd degree connection3rd
Writer. Book collaborator. Creative Ghost. Publishing Consultant.
Greater Los Angeles Area
Connect Connect with Kristin LobergMore actions
her own Point of Origin Ent., Inc.
Cornell University
Cornell University
See contact info
See contact info
See connections (228)
228 connections
Kristin Loberg is a professional writer who specializes in transforming experts’ knowledge and ideas into reader-friendly works for general audiences. Multiple books on which she’s collaborated have spent weeks on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestseller lists including Grain Brain, which has enjoyed more than 50 weeks on the Times list and was one of the bestselling nonfiction books of 2014. Its follow-up, Brain Maker, debuted at #3 on the New York Times in 2015.
With more than 15 years of experience, Kristin has helped dozens of books go from concept to creation and find success in the market. She’s worked with authors as diverse as Dr. David B. Agus (#1 bestselling The End of Illness and A Short Guide to a Long Life) to Phil Town (#1 bestsellers Rule #1 and Payback Time). She is a master at building a book’s architecture, developing compelling messages, crafting the perfect voice that reflects the author, and formulating programs with engaging hooks and widespread appeal. Her expert knowledge of the publishing industry allows her to take the frustration and managerial responsibilities out of busy authors’ hands when it comes to getting their works completed from idea to polished product. Her subject areas of interest include: health/beauty/fitness, science, business, personal finance, self-help/popular psychology, and general nonfiction.
Kristin earned her degree from Cornell University and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. She is a member of the Author’s Guild, PEN, the Los Angeles Editors and Writers Group, and is an avid triathlete and oenophile. Once in a while she teaches an intensive writing workshop at UCLA where she dispenses her secrets to writing winning proposals.
Show less Show less of Kristin’s summary
Experience
her own Point of Origin Ent., Inc.
Professional Writer and Editor
Company Nameher own Point of Origin Ent., Inc.
Dates Employed2004 – Present Employment Duration14 yrs
Collaborate with authors, literary agents, and businesses to prepare proposals and manuscripts. Services include comprehensive research, developmental, conceptual and creative editing/writing, as well as general proofing and creation of works for submission to agent and/or publisher.
Silver Lake Publishing
Editor
Company NameSilver Lake Publishing
Dates EmployedJan 1999 – Jan 2004 Employment Duration5 yrs 1 mo
Education
Cornell University
Cornell University
Dates attended or expected graduation 1993 – 1997
Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences
Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences
Degree NameBachelor of Arts
Dates attended or expected graduation 1997
Satisfied all pre-med requirements, passed the medical school entrance boards, and spent time as a research associate in two premier biomedical labs (enzyme kinetics, gene sequencing, and cloning)
Dr. Perlmutter is a renowned <
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 1/12
Print Marked Items
Dissenting Opinions: New books take aim
at commonly held beliefs about health,
nutrition, and wellness
Corinne Lestch
Publishers Weekly.
265.17 (Apr. 23, 2018): p26+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Drink eight glasses of water a day. Coconut oil is a superfood. If you want to eat like a Paleolithic human,
steer clear of grains. Fact or fiction?
Debates over the veracity of health advice long predate the phrase "alternative facts." In several
forthcoming titles, physicians, food writers, and others directly address information they've determined is
suspect or downright dangerous.
Sense and Superstition
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 2/12
Some authors focus on the question of who gets to relay important information about health, pointing out
that celebrities, lawmakers, and bloggers, for instance, may not be the best sources.
In Bad Advice (Columbia Univ., June), which our review called "enlightening," Paul A. Offit discusses how
to combat the proliferation of misinformation, such as the now-debunked connection between vaccines and
autism. Offit, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and professor
of pediatrics at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has appeared on The Colbert Report and
The Daily Show to promote awareness of politicized attacks on science, along with the dangers of
pseudoscience.
"It's been hard as a scientist to watch us devolve from scientific literacy to scientific denialism," Offit says.
He uses humor to balance some of his cautionary tales. In one example, he compares his five-year-old son,
who thought Abraham Lincoln was the current president, to the people who didn't get vaccinated for recent
measles outbreaks--failing to learn from history. "There's no better way to dismiss something than to make
it a joke."
{{{{Nina Shapiro, director of pediatric ear, nose, and throat at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and professor
at David Geffen School of Medicine, puts it more bluntly: "So much of it is nonsense." She is the author of
Hype (St. Martin's, May); her cowriter, Kristin Loberg, has collaborated on several health titles, including
Grain Brain by David Perlmutter (Little, Brown, 2013), which presents outside-the-mainstream views on
the dangers of gluten and which has sold 520,000 copies in hardcover.
Shapiro shines a light on cancer spas, centers that favor alternative therapies over traditional cancer
treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. She discourages patients from using alternative
methods as standalone treatments. "These things are downright dangerous, and people are falling prey to a
lot more health scams because of the idea that it's gentle or alternative," she says. "It's genuinely hurting a
lot of people." In the book, which our review called "a feisty, fact-filled diatribe," she also challenges
commonly held beliefs such as higher SPF equaling higher protection and milk causing congestion, ear
infections, and colds.}}}}
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 3/12
Journalist Michael Pollan is best known for his food writing, such as 2006's The Omnivore's Dilemma and
2013's Cooked, as well as 2001's The Botany of Desire, which probes the relationship between humans and
agriculture. For How to Change Your Mind (Penguin Press, May), he took a residency at Harvard
University to study plants with psychedelic properties.
In the book, Pollan discusses the "fullon moral panic" that led to the therapeutic uses of LSD being
dismissed for years; today, researchers are exploring LSD and psilocybin's potential for treating addiction
and depression. He also writes of his own psychedelic experimentation in a book our starred review called
"nuanced and sophisticated."
Food Fights
Everyone needs to eat, and a lot of people want to be better about it, so nutritional claims can be particularly
insidious.
The recently released The Angry Chef's Guide to Spotting Bullsh*t in the World of Food (the Experiment)
by Anthony Warner, a chef and blogger in the U.K., disputes messages that proliferate in the foodie
blogosphere. Warner built his social media presence by writing about blogger favorites such as kale, which,
he wrote in 2016, "tastes vile and has the texture of animal fodder." He says the book, which our review
called "entertainingly acerbic and reassuringly commonsensical," is intended for two readerships: those in
the nutrition science community and individuals who are struggling with their relationship to food.
"People are tired of being made to feel guilty about what they eat," Warner says. "All through my career,
I've been trying to help people have a better relationship with food and not get anxious or too obsessed with
micro- and macronutrients and minutiae."
Sally Fallon Morell has been writing about nutrition since her 1995 title, Nourishing Traditions
(NewTrends), coauthored with Mary G. Enig, which has sold more than 375,000 print copies since NPD
BookScan began keeping records in 2001. It and subsequent books such as Nourishing Broth (2014) and
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 4/12
Nourishing Fats (2017) promote a traditional way of eating that goes against prevailing wisdom, such as the
role that saturated fat plays in heart disease.
June brings Nourishing Diets (Grand Central Life & Style), Morell's effort at showing what true paleo and
ancestral diets originally looked like. She examines foods that Australian Aborigines lived on from the late
18th century to the turn of the 20th, including grains, legumes, and the bones of small animals and birds.
She also studies the diet of preindustrialized Europeans through the Victorian Age, which consisted of bone
broth, organ meats, seafood, and plenty of fats and grains.
"They weren't eating grains the way we do, like granola and Cheerios," Morrell says. "They soaked them
and soured them, like sourdough bread. When we borrow food from another culture, it's also important to
honor their method of preparation."
Sparking Conversation
Fall sees the launch of Little, Brown Spark, a health, lifestyle, psychology, and science imprint. Among its
first releases is Estrogen Matters (Sept.) by Avrum Bluming, a retired medical oncologist and emeritus
clinical professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, and Carol Tavris, a social
psychologist. The authors defend the use of hormone replacement therapy, which fell into disfavor after
2002, when the Women's Health Initiative published research results showing an increase in breast cancer
among women taking HRT.
The idea that you should never take hormones if you've had breast cancer isn't really valid, says Bluming,
whose wife was pushed into early menopause after being treated for breast cancer. He and Tavris counter
that the WHI study's findings were exaggerated, and they offer evidence supporting the use of HRT. The
book's goal, he says, is to "give women information they can use take to their physician to discuss the pros
and cons for their particular case."
Other forthcoming titles also aim to expand women's knowledge about their healthcare options. In hike a
Mother (Harper Wave, May), which our review called "an empowering resource," journalist Angela Garbes
addresses pregnant women and new mothers. "When you have a newborn, there's a period of recovery, so
you're physically isolated from the world," she says. "It's important for women to know that they're not
alone; information can help." (For more on Garbes, see "Explicit Connections," p. 32.)
In May, Rodale is releasing Women's Health Vagina University by the editors of Women's Health and Sheila
Curry Oakes, a longtime acquisitions editor who now works as a freelance editor and ghostwriter. The book
covers a wide range of topics--remedies for painful periods, different types of birth control, and ways to
make sex more stimulating--addressing what the authors call commonly held misperceptions.
As the introduction explains, "This book takes on all vagina-related issues, questions, and more, digging a
little deeper and expanding on the discussions to place the information in context." That big-picture
perspective is a hallmark of many of the season's titles, whose sometimes controversial subjects are almost
guaranteed to get people talking, and reading.
Corinne Lestch is a freelance writer in New York.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Lestch, Corinne. "Dissenting Opinions: New books take aim at commonly held beliefs about health,
nutrition, and wellness." Publishers Weekly, 23 Apr. 2018, p. 26+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532846/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=294b7629.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532846
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 5/12
Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical
Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad
Advice-How to Tell What's Real and
What's Not
Karen Springen
Booklist.
114.15 (Apr. 1, 2018): p41.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad Advice-How to Tell What's Real
and What's Not. By Nina Shapiro and Kristin Loberg. May 2018. 288p. St. Martin's, $26.99
(97812501493051; e-book (97812501493121. 613.
In this common-sense guide, UCLA surgeon Shapiro and coauthor Loberg answer such health questions as
whether vaccines cause autism (no) and why gluten-free diets can lead to higher levels of arsenic in the
body (rice flour naturally contains the chemical). Shapiro wants patients to do the right thing by getting
inoculations (as she and her family have) to ward off diseases like HPV and chicken pox, but she also
reassures parents that they can lighten up when it comes to panicking about a little sugar. Each chapter ends
with a helpful "<
than of prostate cancer" and "You are exposed to more aluminum and formaldehyde in nature through air,
food, and drink than what you'll get in a vaccine." <
which costs 2,000 times as much as tap (chemicals in the plastic may leach into the beverage, too).
Complete with an index, this is an extremely useful, easy-to-read handbook. --Karen Springen
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Springen, Karen. "Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad Advice-How to
Tell What's Real and What's Not." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2018, p. 41. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534956821/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c1eec787.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534956821
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 6/12
Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical
Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad
Advice--How to Tell What's Real and
What's Not
Publishers Weekly.
265.8 (Feb. 19, 2018): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice--How to Tell What's Real
and What's Not
Nina Shapiro, with Kristin Loberg. St. Martin's, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978 1-250-14930-5
Surgeon Shapiro (Take a Deep Breath) sets out to clear up medical misperceptions in this feisty, fact-filled
diatribe (even the acknowledgment page complains that "hype abounds and needs to be bashed"). She
tackles such questions as how to put risk into perspective (readers should worry more about eclairs than
Ebola), how to understand the causation/ correlation distinction, and how to make sense of medical jargon,
with the overall aim of turning patients into savvy consumers and perceptive judges of information. Shapiro
argues for accuracy on such topics as the efficacy of vaccinations (she comes down hard on the "antivaxx"
movement) and shares research on the utility of vitamins (the main outcome of which, she claims, is "very
expensive pee and poop"), drinking eight glasses of water per day ("follow the money" to the multi-billiondollar
bottled-water industry), and juicing (skip the blender and just eat fruits and veggies). Her <
help readers make better health and medical choices. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Hype: A Doctor's Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice--How to Tell What's Real
and What's Not." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 71. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357577/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d18ab7a4.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357577
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 7/12
Lavie, Carl J. & Kristin Loberg. The
Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means
Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier
Crystal Renfro
Library Journal.
139.7 (Apr. 15, 2014): p110+.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Lavie, Carl J. & Kristin Loberg. The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means
Healthier. Hudson Street. Apr. 2014.304p. notes. index. ISBN 9781594632440. $25.95; ebk. ISBN
9780698148512. HEALTH
Board-certified cardiologist Lavie (John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Inst., New Orleans; editor in chief,
Progress in Cardiovascular Disease) has written prolifically in medical journals and texts on the relationship
between obesity and health issues, and here <
popular opinion about what it means to be healthy by examining the relationship of body mass index (BMI)
and fitness, the role of genetics, the impact of environment, what the latest research has revealed, and what
the average person can do to optimize his or her well-being today. Part 1 describes how individuals can be
overweight yet still in shape. The second section explores the role of fat in physical wellness, and in Part 3
Lavie outlines key guidelines for diet and exercise, offering hope for even those suffering from chronic
illnesses. VERDICT <>that will be of interest to many individuals concerned about
personal health and fitness, and illuminating for those in related industries.--Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst, of
Technology Lib. & Information Ctr., Atlanta
Renfro, Crystal
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Renfro, Crystal. "Lavie, Carl J. & Kristin Loberg. The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and
Heavier Means Healthier." Library Journal, 15 Apr. 2014, p. 110+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A364439178/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9cb69b7a.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A364439178
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 8/12
Identity Theft
The Bookwatch.
(Feb. 2005):
COPYRIGHT 2005 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bw/index.htm
Full Text:
Identity Theft
Silver Lake Publishing
101 Tenth St., Aberdeen, WA 98520
www.silverlakepub.com
1563437775 $11.95 1-888-663-3091
Identity theft is one of the hardest thefts to control and is the one most damaging to consumers, so Identity
Theft: How To Protect Your Name, Your Credit And Your Vital Information, And What To Do When
Someone Hijacks Any Of These is a timely handbook vital to any consumer's fiscal health. Chapters explore
common mechancis of ID theft, consider the various ways crooks choose victims and manufacture bogus
identities from information, and tells how to reduce a risk of ID theft, and to respond effectively if someone
steals an identity.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Identity Theft." The Bookwatch, Feb. 2005. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A128784844/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e3b49cd3.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A128784844
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 9/12
Perlmutter, David with Kristin Loberg.
Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About
Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's
Silent Killers
Barbara Bibel
Library Journal.
138.18 (Nov. 1, 2013): p112+.
COPYRIGHT 2013 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Perlmutter, David with Kristin Loberg. Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--
Your Brain's Silent Killers. Little, Brown. 2013. 320p. ISBN 9780316234801. $27. HEALTH
Perlmutter, a board-certified neurologist (The Better Brian; Power Up Your Brain) states that carbohydrates
are destroying the brain. He maintains that even healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains and fruits can
cause dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, headaches, and depression. Gluten is the culprit,
and a diet that is low in carbohydrates and that contains "good" fats, including cholesterol and protein, is the
answer. The book offers useful tips for exercise and improving sleep habits as well as gluten-free recipes,
but the overall thesis is controversial. Nonmainstream medical gurus such as Dr. Oz embrace the program,
but it's not for everyone. VERDICT An optional purchase; buy where Perlmutter's titles are in demand.--
Barbara Bibel, Oakland P.L.
Bibel, Barbara
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Bibel, Barbara. "Perlmutter, David with Kristin Loberg. Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat,
Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2013, p. 112+. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A350335133/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0876a122. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A350335133
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 10/12
Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About
Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's
Silent Killers
Publishers Weekly.
260.33 (Aug. 19, 2013): p62.
COPYRIGHT 2013 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers
David Perlmutter, M.D., with Kristin Loberg. Little, Brown, $27 (320p) ISBN 978-0-316-23480-1
In his latest book, neurologist Perlmutter (The Better Brain Book) declares war on a common foodstuff,
attributing<< a bewilderingly wide assortment of maladies>> to the consumption of gluten, a substance found in
bread and other stock foods. Contrasting modern humans against idealized humans of the distant past,
Perlmutter concludes that the former, whose average life expectancy at birth is about twice that of their
Paleolithic ancestors, have gone off the proper track. He addresses the churlish objection that gluten has
been part of the human diet for many millennia by firmly asserting that recent changes to crops have
transformed a once-safe food into a terrible scourge. The book features health advice, a number of glutenfree
recipes, and details on some relevant case studies. Lauded by such nonconsensus pundits as Mehmet
Oz and William Davis, Perlmutter offers readers <>.
Agent: Bonnie Solow, Solow Literary Enterprises. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers."
Publishers Weekly, 19 Aug. 2013, p. 62. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A340422683/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6d8afac4.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A340422683
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 11/12
Brain Maker
California Bookwatch.
(July 2015):
COPYRIGHT 2015 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Brain Maker
David Perlmutter, MD with Kristin Loberg
Hachette Audio
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
9781478985556 $30.00 www.hachetteaudio.com
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain--for Life draws some unusual
connections between brain health and the state of microbiome organisms, and uses the latest cutting-edge
research to explore how these organisms develop, how gut health may be nurtured, and how mental clarity
can add years to one's life. Clinical and lab studies as well as research and work from doctors around the
world blend into the discussion; all of which comes alive in audio under the voice of stage, film and TV
actor and audiobook narrator Peter Ganim.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Brain Maker." California Bookwatch, July 2015. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A422328390/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=418e7c97.
Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A422328390
7/26/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1532658469666 12/12
The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner
Means Sicker and Heavier Means
Healthier
Publishers Weekly.
261.9 (Mar. 3, 2014): p60.
COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier
Carl J. Lavie, M.D., with Kristin Loberg. Hudson Street, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-59463-244-0
"Fat isn't always bad. And exercise isn't always good," cardiologist Lavie writes in his introduction to this
thoughtful examination of what society deems a healthy weight. That pat statement is the crux of the
"obesity paradox": overweight and even moderately obese patients often live longer and fare better than
their thinner counterparts when it comes to chronic diseases, cancers, and even HIV. Lavie and Loberg
examine this conundrum from multiple angles, looking at where fat cells are stored, metabolic health and
muscle mass, and exercise levels. By no means are the authors about to proclaim obesity a healthy option;
they are quick to acknowledge that it can be tough to determine which came first, the diabetes, or the
obesity or heart disease, for example. Still, studies show that patients who focus on overall fitness rather
than weight loss are healthier in the long run. Readers hoping for a free ticket to all-you-can-eat ice cream
or permission to tear up their gym card will be disappointed, but those who've focused on numbers--whether
body mass or weight--<
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier." Publishers Weekly, 3
Mar. 2014, p. 60. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A360679612/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=547f4de5. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A360679612
BOOK REVIEWS
Book Review: Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice, by Nina Shapiro, MD with Kristin Loberg
Editor June 3, 2018
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
“Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice –
How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not” by Nina Shapiro, MD with Kristin Loberg
c.2018, St. Martin’s Press $26.99 / $34.99 Canada 304 pages
For the last few days, you’ve had a tickle in your throat.
It’s not much, just a hrrumph that’s gone from occasional to annoying. You’ve looked it up online and, well, it’s either allergies, a cold, or you’re going to die. But, as author Nina Shapiro, MD says in her new book, “Hype” (with Kristin Loberg), be careful what you think you know.
Your doctor may be rolling her eyes at you.
But don’t worry. Says Shapiro, showing up at an appointment armed with sheaves of print-outs, having “done… research” is often a good thing; most physicians are glad to serve better-educated patients. The problem is that some of your new education may be false and some of it may be dangerous.
So how do you know the difference?
To start, if you’re looking for information online, be super-specific in your search and bear in mind that websites with colorful ads are often “exaggerated.” Pay attention to what comes after the “dot” because it matters in a web address. And just because the website looks authentic doesn’t mean its information is.
Remember that we tend to panic about that which is newsworthy, while ignoring what’s good for us; you may worry about Ebola, for instance, (a threat that’s truly small) but you don’t use your seat belt. Learn how to assess risk and remember that sometimes, not acting is the riskier choice. Also remember that even the most benign substances can kill you if they’re consumed in excess.
In this book, Shapiro explains how to tell if a “study” is really of any use for you, and how to properly use the information you’ll get from genetic testing. Find out why there is no “best” diet or exercise. Get the final word on vaccinations. And that handful of supplements you were about to take?
Hold off a minute…
Lie-ins and thyroids and scares, Oh, My! What do you do when you’re feeling poorly? “Hype” lets you separate the help from the hooey.
Don’t, however, think that this is just another voice in the medical jungle. Author Nina Shapiro, MD (with Kristin Loberg) doesn’t tell readers what to do; instead, she offers the tools to figure out the best next step based on calm truth, not rumor. Shapiro doesn’t hyperventilate in her writing, which is handy and reassuring when you’re faced with a lot of decisions or too much conflicting information.
On that conflict, Shapiro is careful to show both sides to a medical coin – few things, as she points out, are all good or all bad. To that point, she reminds readers that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to healthcare; she’s also refreshingly candid about her own medical superstitions and practices.
For anyone who wants to be extra proactive in their healthcare choices, this is a book to have. <
head shot 11-06 laying 2 (2)The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 13,000 books.
The End of Illness
A new book on proteomics, and how getting a dog can improve your health.
By Kent Sepkowitz
Dog to improve your health.
Will adopting a pet improve your health?
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Even as the publishing industry staggers through its geologic shift, one genre remains impervious to change or threat: the self-help book. These advice-packed tomes generally come in two distinct flavors: either a get-tough pep talk about discipline and self-control, the sort of thing one might expect from a high-school gym coach, or a set of bromides Grandma might have offered, advising moderation in all things. The End of Illness, an entry (in the health subcategory) from January, sets out <
What, you may be wondering, is that? A field so new that the word itself—a mash-up of protein and genome—was invented less than 20 years ago. The discipline (and its name) were initiated by Marc Wilkins, an Australian researcher who in the 1990s thought the world’s love affair with the genome was misplaced. He reasoned that DNA, genes, and chromosomes lack a right-now currency and therefore are of limited value in our quest to understand human disease. After all, how could an inflexible, skeletal helix of genetic information that’s passed on at conception predict whether someone would have a heart attack at 50? Shouldn’t there be a more immediate biological signature to examine, one that reflects a person’s health situation right this second?
Wilkins thought that we would be better off studying not the gene but rather the gene product. The gene, that pampered science-class superstar, doesn’t just preen and stretch across the famous double helix of DNA all day, it actually does something in the human body: It makes proteins. Some genes (we’ve got about 25,000 of them) can multitask as well, spitting out a variety of different proteins. In fact we’ve each got about a million proteins, which, in the words of the NIH, “drive the workings of [our] cells, tissues, and organs.” Many of these are floating through the great, chaotic swamp of the bloodstream, while others stay inside the cell membranes. (Click here for a visual explanation). Taken together, all these compose the proteome.
So how can we use a knowledge of the proteome to our advantage? Here’s the premise: In response to the micro-slings and arrows of daily living, we spit out a wide range of proteins, one to increase this hormone, another to adjust that inflammatory response, a third to induce nausea after your last greasy meal. Something for everything. Since each of these proteins must travel in the bloodstream, a sampling of blood will provide a direct reflection of the day’s oeuvre. The proteome is a diary to end all diaries.
Agus has some fun with the topic, and takes a surprising amount of credit for its development. (He runs his own proteomics company.) Then he lays out a compelling argument for its centrality in the routine medicine of tomorrow. He mentions “theragnostics”—the use of patients' proteomic compositions to predict how they might respond to a costly and potentially toxic treatment. And he dreams of the day—coming soon, maybe—when proteomics, not colonoscopy, will identify early polyp growth and incipient cancer.
But he’s done with all this by the end of Chapter 5, with another nine to go. Just when we’re ready for more Tomorrowland, Agus suddenly goes back in time, to the good old days where Grandma ruled. He’ll spend the rest of the book (another 150+ pages) sitting at the dining room table and dispensing tidy advice about this and that: Choose a multicolored diet; get wireless headphones so you can walk while you talk on the phone; etc. Thankfully, he has moments of crankiness, too, and takes on a few of the sacred cows munching across the self-help terrain: vitamins and "fresh" vegetables like the poor wintertime tomato that are actually out-of-season and light on nutrients. But he also spends a lot of time echoing the echoes of a thousand other echoes as he endorses exercise, fresh fish, and avoidance of junk food. (In the book’s finest moment, he informs us that Americans spend $5.3 billion dollars per year on potato chips.)
The End of Illness by David Agus.
In addition to his alternating moments of iconoclasm and of staleness, Agus embarks on a strangely uninformed detour into the weird world of inflammation, proclaiming it “bad” because football players tend to die young. Apparently, that’s because their bodies are often inflamed, not because they are wildly overweight and chock-full of anabolic steroids, uppers, downers, weight-gain shakes, and all the rest. It is ironic that after striving to elucidate the world of proteomics with so much subtlety and nuance, the book would be so casual in its explication of this topic. Inflammation comprises a complex and interlocking web of chemicals pushing and pulling in all directions, none of which is intrinsically good or bad. Like the proteome itself, it defies catch-all descriptors or value judgments.
And Chapter 11, called “The Wonder Drug of Keeping a Regular Schedule,” seems unrelated to any reality experienced by a member of Homo sapiens. Here Agus offers some sound, grandmotherly advice in favor of the regular life. Wake up at the same time, go to sleep at the same time, and live happily ever after. But this is a very simple and unrealistic solution: After all, shit happens. People are restless because children are sick, bills can’t be paid, threatening memos appear at the end of the work day, and pretty strangers smile suggestively. Life is full of excitement good and bad; for most adults, sleep is what children do.
The author covers a lot of ground and can be forgiven for many standard crimes—pushing his own wares, talking down to the reader, and guessing wrong on some remedies. (His breathless endorsement of the statin class of drugs seems especially ill-timed, for example, given the recent FDA warning linking their use with the development of diabetes.) But he goes way too far at the book’s end. Here, in the final pages, Agus enjoins us to follow him in the March to Total Health, and hints, strongly, that failure to do so would not only mean ducking good advice but actually inviting illness, as if disease were by its nature self-inflicted. In his words: “The end of illness resides in all of us. It’s up to each of us to do what we can to put an end to it. For those who have the courage to join the revolution currently taking place in medicine, I welcome you.”
This blame-the-victim mentality lays responsibility for sickness clearly at the feet of the poor sucker who didn’t join the right team, but could have. This is scientifically incorrect and morally appalling. As David Rakoff writes in his book, Half Empty: “A sense of humor … is a fine stance if it works for you, but its inverse seems to constitute a failure of character; ultimately a judgment against those folks who just aren’t funny or stylish enough to disarm their metastases with well-dressed wit. “
Yet Agus’ final, dismal flourish exposes the secret reason for the continued popularity of these sorts of books for writer and reader alike—they perpetuate the faulty premise that we are in control of our future. Yes, if we just keep our nose clean enough and do (or don’t) eat our vegetables, vitamins, health shakes or whatever, then we, too, will live forever, or almost! But this point of view misses the most basic fact about human health: Illness often happens in ways that neither Agus nor the proteome nor the genome nor even Mr. Wizard could ever predict. To embrace this sort of cosmology is as narrow and restrictive as endorsing a system of divine retribution for the sinner who dallies too long with the devil. In matters of human health, neither science nor faith is as good as advertised; but science at least has the responsibility to acknowledge its limits.
Books
“The End of Illness” by David B. Agus
By Perri Klass
February 10, 2012
Email the author
David Agus’s “The End of Illness” is part vision statement and part instruction manual, a sometimes idiosyncratic mix of scientifically minded polemic, imperative self-help book and erudite guide to hot-button health issues. The author suggests that his vision involves a revolutionary reimagining of the whole field of health and wellness. He delivers a coherent and often convincing guide to some of the most confusing issues currently discussed in popular health writing, and at times an articulate, fascinating and opinionated tour through medical concepts, medical research and medical conundrums.
Agus is an oncologist and an entrepreneur, the co-founder of two companies that provide personalized profiles of medical risk. He is a profound believer in technology, not only that of his own companies — which he advocates to the point of showing us his own medical test results, as delivered by that technology — but health-care technology in general.
However, he is most definitely not a believer in the wide range of supplements and simple answers often proffered in self-help books. Somewhat endearingly, at times the argument made by the complex science that he cites boils down to saying, with Michael Pollan (or your grandmother), something as basic as “Eat fresh food.” He also argues for a strenuously regular (and regularly strenuous) schedule, with set times for exercise and relaxation. But he explains the reasons in terms of physiology, science and a strong conviction that the body can be understood only as a very complex system. In other words, this is a self-help book that avoids magic bullets and quick fixes, arguing instead for a recognition of the body’s intricate systems of homeostasis and self-repair.
The strength of “The End of Illness” is that it brings medical research and a sophisticated understanding of the complexity of human physiology to bear on explaining practical methods for preventing disease and improving health. In fact, Agus provides a formal series of health rules. He wants his readers to take charge of their medical details and understand individualized risk and individualized therapy: “Know as much about yourself as possible through the use of technology, including how you metabolize drugs.” He wants us to understand the potential importance of the body’s inflammatory response, which, he argues, is at the root of much pathology: “Take charge of hidden, sneaky sources of chronic inflammation that can trigger illness and disease by wearing comfortable shoes daily, getting an annual flu vaccine, and asking your doctor why you’re not on a statin and baby aspirin if you’re over the age of forty.” And he wants readers to assist their bodies’ homeostatic and anti-inflammatory systems by avoiding stress and shocks to the system: “Keep a strict, predictable schedule 365 days a year that has you eating, sleeping, and exercising at about the same times day in and day out.”
Though some of the rules are quite straightforward, <
“The End of Illness” by David B. Agus (The Free Press)
At the same time, by discussing the body’s regulatory mechanisms, he raises questions about the effects of vitamin supplements (for D and for others) and argues strongly against “overly general recommendations for everyone regardless of their vitamin D (or fill in the blank) status.”
It would be valuable to have more of that same appreciation of physiological complexity and diagnostic ambiguity when the discussion turns to proteomics, the analysis and understanding of proteins. Agus argues strongly that looking at the proteins produced in the body may hold more promise diagnostically and therapeutically than analysis at the genetic level, and his discussion of how to weigh family history and genetic risk is clear and helpful. He compares DNA to a list of ingredients, saying: “The quality of the food depends on lots of details of how they get combined and processed — on the cooking. In the human body, this ‘cooking’ is about how the body processes the DNA through its magical mix of creating proteins.”
But from a clinical point of view, protein analysis can also be complicated and fraught with diagnostic ambiguity. Though the field holds much promise, our early attempts at detecting cancer through circulating proteins have not necessarily been straightforward. Agus writes, “If you’re a man, prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests can identify prostate cancer early through a simple blood sample.” I would have enjoyed reading his analysis of the clinical issues involved in PSA testing; this protein-based test has been controversial for years because of the complexities of interpretation, treatment and prognosis. The studies need to be interpreted; the recommendations for who should be tested have changed; the treatment for cancer, when detected, is sometimes worse than the disease. It’s another complicated algorithm involving risk, family history and personal preference.
Although Agus is an oncologist, his book is not focused only on cancer. Still, he makes interesting arguments about the ways that we understand this most feared of diseases. He argues that we may have gone astray in thinking about cancer as we do about infectious diseases — that is, in taking the approach that the body has been invaded and the doctor’s job is to administer drugs that kill the invader. He offers a different approach: “Cancer is a symptom of the breaking down of the conversation that’s going on within and between the cells.” And he laments that decades of cancer research have not moved us far enough along in treating the disease and saving lives — which brings us back to prevention and healthy living.
“The End of Illness” draws much of its power from the author’s voice, whether rueful about the mixed results of cancer research or profoundly optimistic about the future of proteomics and health-care technology. Agus tries to make both health and illness very personal, arguing the importance of knowing yourself — your habits, your family history, your genetic risks, even your proteins.
Perri Klass is a professor of journalism and pediatrics at New York University.
THE END OF ILLNESS
By David B. Agus with Kristin Loberg
Free Press. 336 pp. $26
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.