Neuroimmunity: A New Science That Will Revolutionize How We Keep Our Brains Healthy and Young

by Michal Schwartz, Anat London (Creator)

In the past, the brain was considered an autonomous organ, self-contained and completely separate from the body’s immune system. But over the past twenty years, neuroimmunologist Michal Schwartz, together with her research team, not only has overturned this misconception but has brought to light revolutionary new understandings of brain health and repair. In this book Schwartz describes her research journey, her experiments, and the triumphs and setbacks that led to the discovery of connections between immune system and brain. Michal Schwartz, with Anat London, also explains the significance of the findings for future treatments of brain disorders and injuries, spinal cord injuries, glaucoma, depression, and other conditions such as brain aging and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
 
Scientists, physicians, medical students, and all readers with an interest in brain function and its relationship to the immune system in health and disease will find this book a valuable resource. With general readers in mind, the authors provide a useful primer to explain scientific terms and concepts discussed in the book.

Genres: Science, Neuroscience, Nonfiction, Health, Psychology, Medicine

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

About the author

Michal Schwartz is professor of neuroimmunology, Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot. She has received numerous awards for her pioneering research and was recently elected president of the International Society of Neuroimmunology. She lives in Rehovot, Israel.

Reviews

[Sebastian-Ioan Strajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book really helpful. This reinforces the fact that we need to be physically healthy in order to preserve our mind healthy.
The ways the body adapted to fight problem is quite interesting and it would be a lot more interesting to see it in 10k years to compare it to what we have today.

[Peter Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most informative. Although I try to stay up (as a layman) on science & biology, and read a lot about it,
much of the material covered in this book was completely new to me. Is quite readable without 'dumbing down' the subject matter, and the illustrations are quite clear. The book probably merits - my own subjective ranking, of course - more than 4 stars, but a trifle short of 5 because it was a bit repetitive at times. Also, many of the ground-breaking findings were discovered by Schwartz's team over a decade ago, and the reasons she gives for why some these findings haven't gotten much beyond the lab since then, are not dealt with in much detail .. almost glossed over as legal or contractual issues with drug companies.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, readable [the science is accessible to non-science types] and inspiring. What tremendous work is being done by Schwartz and her team

[Satid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that teaches us that science is mostly perpetual team work in progress along which right and wrong theories are formulated and then proven to be one or the other. The right ones will be utilized and improved upon in the long path of collective scientific endeavor.

Another lesson I learned from this book is that many things in science, like things in life in general, are best utilized in moderation and careful control such as the use of marijuana in medicine as opposed to its use in narcotics in booth of which dosage is the key differentiating factor between good and bad. Our immune cells are, as revealed in this enlightening book, also best used in a controlled amount and manner.

This book also helps remind us that we should be mindful of our immune health and do our best to maintain it the same way we look after our general physical and mental health. We should also be keenly aware of the close coupling of physical and mental health - sane mind in healthy body. There is no separate existence of our mind and body.

One point that raises a question in my mind is when the authors mention that the health of immune system dictates physical and mental health of that person. I could not help wondering if this means any persons with organ transplant who have to take immunosuppressant drug is doomed for bad or unreliable mental health for the rest of their lives? Too bad the authors do not address this point.

For readers who want to dive for deeper appreciation into our immune system, this book provides more detailed insights: Immune: How Your Body Defends and Protects You. And the author of this book walked long distant to defeat his mental illness: A Walk from the Wild Edge. I figure this author never read Professor Michal's book but what he did is in the spirit of healthy neuroimmunity!

[Jomar Aunario · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers an interesting take on how the immune system affects the maintenance and repair of our central nervous system. Some of the studies here may be a bit dated already since some were done back in the 90's and early 2000's. Overall I still thought it was a good intro on our immune and central nervous system since it was not too technical.

Time to boost our immune system now by exercising and eating well. :D

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading about this exciting new research in dumbed-down terminology that was easy to understand. :) Fascinating that immune cell therapy could potentially help heal neurological and spinal cord injuries or even blindness.
There was also good information about how the immune system is tied in with stress.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent science written clearly and accessibly with very little fluff.

[Stephen Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm split on my rating here - on a personal level, I would have liked more detail (less "wise immune cells" and more specifics) - but I can't rate the book down for that because of the audience it's intended for.

Highly recommended because of the author's background and ability to explain the importance of the immune system and neurotrophins to a wide array of degenerative and auto-immune diseases which are conceptually linked to each other.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!