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The immune mystery : a doctor's impassioned quest to solve the puzzle of autoimmune disease / Dr. Anita Kåss and Jørgen Jelstad ; translated by Alison McCullough.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Norwegian Publisher: Vancouver ; Berkeley : Greystone Books, 2021Description: 277 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781771645508
  • 1771645504
Uniform titles:
  • Mamma er en gåte. English
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Other classification:
  • cci1icc
Contents:
Prologue -- Beginnings -- The master and a clue -- Nature versus nurture -- A dance out of the wheelchair -- The lonely researcher -- The body at war -- An autoimmune attack -- Judgment day -- The female diseases -- Gold, mustard gas, and the world's most valuable medicine -- Going against the stream -- A Nobel Prize winner answers the phone -- Digging deep in the trash -- The experiment -- The billion-dollar companies arrive -- Nothing is black and white -- Epilogue: The search for a longer life -- Acknowledgments -- Overview of autoimmune diseases -- What do we know about environmental factors? -- Immune-suppressing medications -- Sources -- Index.
Summary: "Our bodies are protected by a complex defense system - an army that stands ready to combat dangerous invaders. But sometimes wires get crossed and our defenders turn against the body they are supposed to protect. Then we fall prey to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or type 1 diabetes. In all there are more than a hundred such diseases, which can ruin lives and sometimes end them prematurely. And these diseases are on the rise. The Immune Mystery, by rheumatologist and researcher Anita Kåss, is the story of Kåss's quest to solve the puzzle of autoimmune disease and find a potential cure. It is a highly personal quest: Kåss's mother contracted rheumatoid arthritis after giving birth to her, and died when her daughter was only thirteen. The book follows Kåss's journey as a researcher--from the day of her mother's funeral in 1993, when she first started reading about rheumatoid arthritis, to the moment in 2017 when she is interviewed on Scandinavia's biggest talk show about a potentially revolutionary discovery that has earned her a record-breaking deal with a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Inspirational and compelling,The Immune Mystery is both a window into the body's most enigmatic workings and the moving story of a brilliant researcher's persistence against the odds."-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 616.978 K19 Available 33111010517445
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A page-turning and powerful medical mystery for readers of Diagnosis by Lisa Sanders and The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper

More than 20 million Americans have autoimmune diseases, which occur when the immune system attacks the body. Autoimmune diseases are often misdiagnosed by doctors and overlooked by medical researchers. Almost all affect women more often than men.

The Immune Mystery follows doctor and researcher Anita Kåss's quest to solve the autoimmune puzzle, beginning with the premature death of her mother, who developed rheumatoid arthritis shortly after giving birth to Anita. As a child, Anita vowed to study the illness and one day find a cure.

Becoming a respected doctor and researcher, Anita devoted herself to studying auto-immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Why do so many autoimmune diseases start to show symptoms during and after childbirth, perimenopause, and menopause? Could autoimmune diseases be linked to our changing hormones?

Despite the groundbreaking nature of her research, Anita had to fight for her ideas against the conventional wisdom and casual sexism of the medical industry--even as she made a discovery that earned her a record-breaking US$95 million pharmaceutical deal.

A compelling blend of incredible determination and cutting-edge science, The Immune Mystery changes the way we think about autoimmune diseases. Anita offers solace to patients struggling with questions about their health, and introduces a powerful new voice in medical storytelling.

Translation of: Mamma er en gåte.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Originally published in Norwegian as Mamma er en gate: nar kroppen angriper seg selv, ©2018 by Cappelen Damm, Oslo."--Title page verso.

Prologue -- Beginnings -- The master and a clue -- Nature versus nurture -- A dance out of the wheelchair -- The lonely researcher -- The body at war -- An autoimmune attack -- Judgment day -- The female diseases -- Gold, mustard gas, and the world's most valuable medicine -- Going against the stream -- A Nobel Prize winner answers the phone -- Digging deep in the trash -- The experiment -- The billion-dollar companies arrive -- Nothing is black and white -- Epilogue: The search for a longer life -- Acknowledgments -- Overview of autoimmune diseases -- What do we know about environmental factors? -- Immune-suppressing medications -- Sources -- Index.

"Our bodies are protected by a complex defense system - an army that stands ready to combat dangerous invaders. But sometimes wires get crossed and our defenders turn against the body they are supposed to protect. Then we fall prey to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or type 1 diabetes. In all there are more than a hundred such diseases, which can ruin lives and sometimes end them prematurely. And these diseases are on the rise. The Immune Mystery, by rheumatologist and researcher Anita Kåss, is the story of Kåss's quest to solve the puzzle of autoimmune disease and find a potential cure. It is a highly personal quest: Kåss's mother contracted rheumatoid arthritis after giving birth to her, and died when her daughter was only thirteen. The book follows Kåss's journey as a researcher--from the day of her mother's funeral in 1993, when she first started reading about rheumatoid arthritis, to the moment in 2017 when she is interviewed on Scandinavia's biggest talk show about a potentially revolutionary discovery that has earned her a record-breaking deal with a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Inspirational and compelling,The Immune Mystery is both a window into the body's most enigmatic workings and the moving story of a brilliant researcher's persistence against the odds."-- Provided by publisher.

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