The Immune Mind

by Monty Lyman

Genres: Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 233
Rating:

Synopsis:

Delving into the recent discovery of the brain's immune system, Dr Monty Lyman reveals the extraordinary implications for our physical and mental health.

Up until the last ten years, we have misunderstood a fundamental aspect of human health. Although the brain and the body have always been viewed as separate entities – treated in separate hospitals – science now shows that they are intimately linked. Startlingly, we now know that our immune system is in constant communication with our brain and can directly alter our mental health.

This has opened up a new frontier in medicine. Could inflammation cause depression, and arthritis drugs cure it? Can gut microbes shape your behaviour through the vagus nerve? Can something as simple as brushing your teeth properly reduce your risk of dementia? Could childhood infections lie behind neurological and psychiatric disorders such as tics and OCD?

In The Immune Mind, Dr Monty Lyman explores the fascinating connection between the mind, immune system and microbiome, offering practical advice on how to stay healthy. A specialist in the cutting-edge field of immunopsychiatry, Lyman argues that we need to change the way we treat disease and the way we see ourselves. For the first time, we have a new approach to medicine that treats the whole human being.

I adored the majority of Dr Monty Lyman’s The Immune Mind, but the final section lets it down. For most of the book he’s talking about fascinating research, which is pretty well sourced and matches what I can easily fact check (in part because I can always ask my mother’s opinion of What’s Going On With Schizophrenia research, with which she’s been involved for years as a psychiatrist and investigator).

That part was fascinating and exciting: I can report that as recently as right now, infectious diseases and immunology classes are still teaching that the brain is an immune-privileged site where no immune reactions can occur — at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, no less. What he says on that front makes absolute sense, and my knowledge agrees  with what he says as far as my it goes (BSc in natural sciences, near completion of MSc in infectious diseases, general voracious curiosity).

Buuut the chapters about how improving your health felt pasted on, like someone told him that you can’t finish the book on the point that we may understand the mechanisms behind some diseases yet, but you can’t get treated for them because it’s still experimental. It’s basically regurgitating exactly the same advice you find elsewhere, and the authorities he quotes have been… questioned. (See Alexey Guzey’s essay, which at the very least asks some pertinent questions.)

So that was a bit disappointing, because the rest of the book was pretty fresh and exciting.

Rating: 4/5