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Also by Gregg Mitman:

Breathing Space, June 2007
Hardcover

BREATHING SPACE
By: Gregg Mitman

How Allergies Shape Our Lives and Landscapes

Yale University Press
June 2007
On Sale: May 28, 2007
336 pages
ISBN: 0300110359
EAN: 9780300110357
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction

Allergy is the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the United States. More than fifty million Americans suffer from allergies, and they spend an estimated $18 billion coping with them. Yet despite advances in biomedicine and enormous investment in research over the past fifty years, the burden of allergic disease continues to grow. Why have we failed to reverse this trend? Breathing Space offers an intimate portrait of how allergic disease has shaped American culture, landscape, and life. Drawing on environmental, medical, and cultural history and the life stories of people, plants, and insects, Mitman traces how America’s changing environment from the late 1800s to the present day has led to the epidemic growth of allergic disease. We have seen a never-ending stream of solutions to combat allergies, from hay fever resorts, herbicides, and air-conditioned homes to numerous potions and pills. But, as Mitman shows, despite the quest for a magic bullet, none of the attempted solutions has succeeded. Until we address how our changing environment—physical, biological, social, and economic—has helped to create America’s allergic landscape, that hoped-for success will continue to elude us.

Media Buzz

Diane Rehm Show - NPR - June 26, 2007