Immune: a Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive in Science and Inquiry

From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Immune: a Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive

Philipp Dettmer

Start date: June 1, 2022

Finish date: June 30, 2022

Discussion: Book Club 2022

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 25 topics — 446 comments total

Book Club 2022

November 2022 - Rise of the Mammals
By Betsy , co-mod · 15 posts · 98 views

last updated May 05, 2024 12:39AM

December 2022 - Immense World
By Betsy , co-mod · 29 posts · 121 views

last updated Jan 28, 2023 09:23PM

showing 2 of 2 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Nov 29, 2021 Petra X rated it it was amazing

Shelves: getting-a-bit-personal-here, reviewed, medicine-science, 10-star-books

Review Measles vaccination is far, far more important than preventing the disease. Our immune system has a library of all the illnesses we have faced and has an arsenal of weapons against them when an intruder from one of these diseases comes calling. It stops it in its tracks most of the time. But measles entirely destroys that library, all that built up immunity from colds, flu and all the other bugs that assailed us up until that moment are gone. You are now vulnerable to them all over again. Review Measles vaccination is far, far more important than preventing the disease. Our immune system has a library of all the illnesses we have faced and has an arsenal of weapons against them when an intruder from one of these diseases comes calling. It stops it in its tracks most of the time. But measles entirely destroys that library, all that built up immunity from colds, flu and all the other bugs that assailed us up until that moment are gone. You are now vulnerable to them all over again. I didn't know this about measles. For some it might mean only some more colds and flu, for others it might mean facing really dangerous diseases again.

Don't believe the Andrew Wakeley crap about autism - he was a) paid to find issues among only 11 subjects and b) he had developed his own vaccine which if the triple vaccine was discredited his might be the first one of choice and he would have made millions. As it was, to all except conspiracy theorists and those who grasp at straws, his work cannot be replicated which is the gold standard of research, because it was fake and he was struck off the medical register.

I had measles when I was very young. It was hell, light hurt, skin hurt, throat hurt, head hurt, non-stop scratching and a feeling of such awful unwellness that only sleep brought relief. My brother had it the same time as me. I remember my mother sitting in the upstairs hall in the centre between our quite-far-apart bedrooms belting out stories at the top of her voice to try to at least distract us. I wouldn't put anyone through that, and I wouldn't want anyone's library of immune responses destroyed at any cost.
____________________

Notes on reading 10 star read. I have learned a lot. Measles are not what they seem, the idea of boosting the immune system is a scam at best, a very, very bad idea at worst (even if you have the knowledge how to), and what works to stay healthy and what doesn't (positive attitude is not necessarily good advice) and the not very beneficial side effects of a Caesarean birth. The book is 10 star brilliant and I understand at least 75% of it on first rereading including rereading paragraphs endlessly. I have to write a proper review so I can remember these things myself and pass on the best of what I've learned.
__________

I always thought i knew about the immune system - white cells, T cells, the spleen, bone marrow, lymph.... That's like saying I thought I knew all about car engines because I know where the dipsticks for their 'bodily' fluids are and can pump up the tyres. This book is so complex, I have been reading and rereading for the last week.

One thing I have learned is if I have a fever and do not need to control it for any reason (like work or going to store with a (Covid) temperature detector) I will never again take acetaminophen to control it. A raised temperature makes viruses very unhappy, they prefer to infect and replicate (millions per hour) at a normal temperature; the whole of the immune system revs into high gear with a high temperature and a minor benefit - you burn up more calories :-)

I also for the first time heard of the complement system, a complex immune system of more than 30 different proteins, that is not part of the immune system that I thought I knew about. This book is absolutely excellent, heading for a 10-star. ...more

327 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2022 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: medicine, health

The human immune system is very complex. So complex, that the author starts out by writing, "The immune system is too complicated for you to understand so I'm going to talk down to you." What a statement! And it's true--the writing is definitely easy to understand, because all of the interactions and components are spelled out in metaphors. This puts the concepts in human terms, ones that we all can understand. Just as a couple of examples: