The Elusive Diagnosis

Doctors, and the Diagnosis Crisis 
by Alexandra Sifferlin (2026)

This is an interesting and important book for all health care professionals including students.  Good Reads says: "A compelling, necessary, and timely investigation into the diagnosis crisis in the American healthcare system, from the patients living with undiagnosed illnesses, to the doctors searching for answers, and what their quests reveal about our flawed medical system

My notes can be found on GoogleDocs. 

There are a number of similar books books on the market; but this is the latest and it's well-written and informative.

Poisoned: How a Crime-Busting Prosecutor Turned His Medical Mystery into a Crusade for Environmental Victims

 by Alan Bell (2017)

Amazon Synopsis:

After years of prosecuting hard-core criminals, rising legal star Alan Bell took a private sector job in South Florida's newest skyscraper. Suddenly, he suffered such bizarre medical symptoms, doctors suspected he'd been poisoned by the Mafia. Bell's rapidly declining health forced him to flee his glamorous Miami life to a sterile "bubble" in the remote Arizona desert.

As his career and marriage dissolved, Bell pursued medical treatments in a race against time, hoping to stay alive and raise his young daughter, his one desperate reason to keep going. He eventually discovered he wasn't poisoned by a criminal, but by his office building. His search for a cure led him to discover the horrifying truth: his tragedy was just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of people fall ill and die each year because of toxic chemical exposures - without knowing they're at risk.

Stunned by what he discovered, Bell chose to fight back, turning his plight into an opportunity. Despite his precarious health, he began collaborating with scientists dedicated to raising awareness about this issue. Soon, he also found himself drawn back into the legal field, teaming up with top lawyers fighting for those who had already fallen ill.

Both a riveting medical mystery and a cautionary tale, this book puts a human face on the hidden truths behind toxic dangers assaulting us in our everyday environments - and offers practical ways to protect ourselves and our children. 

We hear one side of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity story here.  This is a captivating book, but I recognize there are doubters about MCS out there.  Reader, keep an open mind!

 

Magic Pill

The extra extraordinary benefits and the disturbing risks
of the new weight-loss drugs. 

by Johann Hari. (2024)

 

 

 

Johann Hari has the gift of making a complex subject clear 

and easy to read about.  This book is no exception.  GLP-1 

drugs highlight the brain-gut inter-relationship.  They have
taken the world by storm but in reality they are a fix to
changes in how and what human populations consume.  

Most of this has taken place over the past 50 years.

At the outset, Hari admits that he had an eating disorder, 

especially in relation to KFC. Rigorous scientific studies
have shown that there is a new generation of drugs, working
in a completely new way, that causes people who use them to
lose between five and 24% of their body weight. For people 

with severe obesity it is the Holy Grail. The maker of the most
popular of these drugs, Novo Nordisk, is the most valuable
company in  the European Union at present. 

 

This is a fascinating book. You can read my extensive notes
on Google Docs.