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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.
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