Another person's poison : a history of food allergy

Bibliographic Information

Another person's poison : a history of food allergy

Matthew Smith

(Arts and traditions of the table : perspectives on culinary history)

Columbia University Press, c2015

  • : cloth
  • : [pbk]

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [193]-275) and index

Description and Table of Contents
Volume

: cloth ISBN 9780231164849

Description

To some, food allergies seem like fabricated cries for attention. To others, they pose a dangerous health threat. Food allergies are bound up with so many personal and ideological concerns that it is difficult to determine what is medical and what is myth. Another Person's Poison parses the political, economic, cultural, and genuine health factors of a phenomenon that dominates our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. For most of the twentieth century, food allergies were considered a fad or junk science. While many physicians and clinicians argued that certain foods could cause a range of chronic problems, from asthma and eczema to migraines and hyperactivity, others believed that allergies were psychosomatic. 'This book traces the trajectory of this debate and its effect on public-health policy and the production, manufacture, and consumption of food. Are rising allergy rates purely the result of effective lobbying and a booming industry built on self-diagnosis and expensive remedies? Or should physicians become more flexible in their approach to food allergies and more careful in their diagnoses? Exploring the issue from scientific, political, economic, social, and patient-centered perspectives, this book is the first to engage fully with the history of a major modern affliction, illuminating society's troubled relationship with food, disease, nature, and the creation of medical knowledge.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: "Witchcraft, a fad, or a racket?" 1. Food Allergy Before Allergy 2. Anaphylaxis, Allergy, and the Food Factor in Disease 3. Strangest of All Maladies 4. Panic? Or the Pantry? 5. An Immunological Explosion? 6. The Problem with Peanuts Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
Volume

: [pbk] ISBN 9780231164856

Description

To some, food allergies seem like fabricated cries for attention. To others, they pose a dangerous health threat. Food allergies are bound up with so many personal and ideological concerns that it is difficult to determine what is medical and what is myth. Another Person's Poison parses the political, economic, cultural, and genuine health factors of a phenomenon that dominates our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. For most of the twentieth century, food allergies were considered a fad or junk science. While many physicians and clinicians argued that certain foods could cause a range of chronic problems, from asthma and eczema to migraines and hyperactivity, others believed that allergies were psychosomatic. 'This book traces the trajectory of this debate and its effect on public-health policy and the production, manufacture, and consumption of food. Are rising allergy rates purely the result of effective lobbying and a booming industry built on self-diagnosis and expensive remedies? Or should physicians become more flexible in their approach to food allergies and more careful in their diagnoses? Exploring the issue from scientific, political, economic, social, and patient-centered perspectives, this book is the first to engage fully with the history of a major modern affliction, illuminating society's troubled relationship with food, disease, nature, and the creation of medical knowledge.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: "Witchcraft, a fad, or a racket?" 1. Food Allergy Before Allergy 2. Anaphylaxis, Allergy, and the Food Factor in Disease 3. Strangest of All Maladies 4. Panic? Or the Pantry? 5. An Immunological Explosion? 6. The Problem with Peanuts Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Details
  • NCID
    BB18929649
  • ISBN
    • 9780231164849
    • 9780231164856
  • LCCN
    2014041702
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    xii, 290 p.
  • Size
    23-24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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