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If Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body
In 2014, James Hamblin launched a series of videos for The Atlantic called "If Our Bodies Could Talk." With it, the doctor-turned-journalist established himself as a seriously entertaining authority in the field of health. Now, in illuminating and genuinely funny prose, Hamblin explores the human stories behind health questions that never seem to go away—and which tend to be mischaracterized and oversimplified by marketing and news media. He covers topics such as sleep, aging, diet, and much more:
• Can I “boost” my immune system?
• Does caffeine make me live longer?
• Do we still not know if cell phones cause cancer?
• How much sleep do I actually need?
• Is there any harm in taking a multivitamin?
• Is life long enough?
In considering these questions, Hamblin draws from his own medical training as well from hundreds of interviews with distinguished scientists and medical practitioners. He translates the (traditionally boring) textbook of human anatomy and physiology into accessible, engaging, socially contextualized, up-to-the-moment answers. They offer clarity, examine the limits of our certainty, and ultimately help readers worry less about things that don’t really matter.
If Our Bodies Could Talk is a comprehensive, illustrated guide that entertains and educates in equal doses.
• Can I “boost” my immune system?
• Does caffeine make me live longer?
• Do we still not know if cell phones cause cancer?
• How much sleep do I actually need?
• Is there any harm in taking a multivitamin?
• Is life long enough?
In considering these questions, Hamblin draws from his own medical training as well from hundreds of interviews with distinguished scientists and medical practitioners. He translates the (traditionally boring) textbook of human anatomy and physiology into accessible, engaging, socially contextualized, up-to-the-moment answers. They offer clarity, examine the limits of our certainty, and ultimately help readers worry less about things that don’t really matter.
If Our Bodies Could Talk is a comprehensive, illustrated guide that entertains and educates in equal doses.
401 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 27, 2016
544 people are currently reading
6732 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 359 reviews
October 12, 2022
Not what I was expecting from the title, but still interesting. Questions and answers relating to health and the human body. All the stuff you wanted to know and maybe a few things you didn't know you wanted to know!
March 10, 2017
The title of James Hamblin’s book is a little misleading. It isn’t an overview of the human body that imagines what key organs would say about their functions and advise you to do in order to keep them healthy (if they could talk). It is a sort of medical miscellany in six sections, each of which answers a series of questions. Some questions are about how parts of our bodies look or work. Other questions are about topical issues (for example, about tattoos & tattoo removal or the emerging specialized field of transgender health.) Still other questions concern more curious medical conditions or procedures--such as rare “orphan” diseases like epidermolysis bullosa or Rasmussen’s encephalitis.
A few years ago, Hamblin, a trained M.D., left a radiology residency for a career in medical journalism. He is the editor of the health section of The Atlantic's digital magazine and, as such, he is committed to increasing public health literacy in an age of “alternative facts.” Early in his book, Hamblin acknowledges the work of Stanford University professor, Robert Proctor, whose academic interest—believe it or not—is the history of ignorance. According to Proctor, ignorance is actively cultivated through marketing and rumour. Consider the tobacco industry, whose members were well aware (even in the 1960s) of the science linking smoking and cancer, but nonetheless proceeded to make claims to the public that there were “experts on both sides of the debate.” Now, powerful agencies have a multiplicity of media vehicles to spread lies, hence the need for encouraging a critical stance.
Hamblin provides brief answers to approximately a dozen questions about the body or medical procedures in each of the sections of his book. Some answers are as short as a couple of sentences; others are a couple of pages. There are also line drawings and other graphics to assist the reader. Topics range from skin (the average person has six pounds of it), dimples, and phases of eyelash and hair growth, to more serious matters, such as kidney cancer and heart arrhythmias. Hamblin varies his tone with the topic. Sometimes he’s matter-of-fact; other times, bemused or sardonic. Apparently aware of fractured attention spans, not only does the author keep his explanations brief, but he also includes some sexy bits to spice things up (e.g. a comparison of male and female genitalia and a bizarre, but increasingly popular kind of plastic surgery: labiaplasty, likely influenced by the prevalence of internet pornography).
All of this is well and good, by turns informative or entertaining. However, Hamblin goes further. He encourages readers to look more critically at the practices they engage in, erroneously believing they're doing something good for themselves--like consuming dietary supplements which have not been submitted to any rigorous testing and are churned out by a largely unregulated industry. He also casts a critical eye on the modern funeral industry, particularly the practice of pumping a dead body full of a known carcinogen, formaldehyde, only to place that body in an expensive padded box, which will then be buried and eventually release dangerous contaminants into the soil and water. Playfully or pointedly, he includes plans and a diagram, supplied to him by a North Carolina handyman, for building a coffin for under 200 dollars.
Hamblin urges his readers to exercise healthy skepticism towards media. He refers to TV hospital dramas, which give viewers misleading ideas about medicine or medical procedures. For example, the hit television show E.R. depicted CPR saving lives at about four times the rate it actually does in real life. Furthermore, TV patients who experience the procedure (upon cardiac arrest) seldom walk out of the hospital with any degree of brain damage. In actual fact, however, only 2 to 16 % of people who receive CPR from a stranger will live, and the majority of them will endure some form of neurological impairment.
I believe Hamblin’s most important observations, cleverly inserted between the lighter tidbits, concern the state of healthcare in America today. How is it, he asks, that the U.S.A. can spend more money than any other country on healthcare, but rank 43rd in the world for life expectancy? The fact is: there are huge inequalities in access to healthcare (and even to certain procedures by region). Some of them are related to socio-economic status; others, to the amount of melanin (dark pigment) in human skin. Hamblin doesn’t shy away from noting the role naked greed plays in healthcare either. He notes that there’s no money in preventative medicine. Hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors themselves gain from illness. But patients are part of the problem, too. They prefer a quick fix, a procedure, over taking responsibility for their bodies and their diets.
If Our Bodies Talk is a lively read whose segmented format lends itself to being dipped into at spare moments. I hope it will gain wide readership.
Rating: 3.5
A few years ago, Hamblin, a trained M.D., left a radiology residency for a career in medical journalism. He is the editor of the health section of The Atlantic's digital magazine and, as such, he is committed to increasing public health literacy in an age of “alternative facts.” Early in his book, Hamblin acknowledges the work of Stanford University professor, Robert Proctor, whose academic interest—believe it or not—is the history of ignorance. According to Proctor, ignorance is actively cultivated through marketing and rumour. Consider the tobacco industry, whose members were well aware (even in the 1960s) of the science linking smoking and cancer, but nonetheless proceeded to make claims to the public that there were “experts on both sides of the debate.” Now, powerful agencies have a multiplicity of media vehicles to spread lies, hence the need for encouraging a critical stance.
Hamblin provides brief answers to approximately a dozen questions about the body or medical procedures in each of the sections of his book. Some answers are as short as a couple of sentences; others are a couple of pages. There are also line drawings and other graphics to assist the reader. Topics range from skin (the average person has six pounds of it), dimples, and phases of eyelash and hair growth, to more serious matters, such as kidney cancer and heart arrhythmias. Hamblin varies his tone with the topic. Sometimes he’s matter-of-fact; other times, bemused or sardonic. Apparently aware of fractured attention spans, not only does the author keep his explanations brief, but he also includes some sexy bits to spice things up (e.g. a comparison of male and female genitalia and a bizarre, but increasingly popular kind of plastic surgery: labiaplasty, likely influenced by the prevalence of internet pornography).
All of this is well and good, by turns informative or entertaining. However, Hamblin goes further. He encourages readers to look more critically at the practices they engage in, erroneously believing they're doing something good for themselves--like consuming dietary supplements which have not been submitted to any rigorous testing and are churned out by a largely unregulated industry. He also casts a critical eye on the modern funeral industry, particularly the practice of pumping a dead body full of a known carcinogen, formaldehyde, only to place that body in an expensive padded box, which will then be buried and eventually release dangerous contaminants into the soil and water. Playfully or pointedly, he includes plans and a diagram, supplied to him by a North Carolina handyman, for building a coffin for under 200 dollars.
Hamblin urges his readers to exercise healthy skepticism towards media. He refers to TV hospital dramas, which give viewers misleading ideas about medicine or medical procedures. For example, the hit television show E.R. depicted CPR saving lives at about four times the rate it actually does in real life. Furthermore, TV patients who experience the procedure (upon cardiac arrest) seldom walk out of the hospital with any degree of brain damage. In actual fact, however, only 2 to 16 % of people who receive CPR from a stranger will live, and the majority of them will endure some form of neurological impairment.
I believe Hamblin’s most important observations, cleverly inserted between the lighter tidbits, concern the state of healthcare in America today. How is it, he asks, that the U.S.A. can spend more money than any other country on healthcare, but rank 43rd in the world for life expectancy? The fact is: there are huge inequalities in access to healthcare (and even to certain procedures by region). Some of them are related to socio-economic status; others, to the amount of melanin (dark pigment) in human skin. Hamblin doesn’t shy away from noting the role naked greed plays in healthcare either. He notes that there’s no money in preventative medicine. Hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors themselves gain from illness. But patients are part of the problem, too. They prefer a quick fix, a procedure, over taking responsibility for their bodies and their diets.
If Our Bodies Talk is a lively read whose segmented format lends itself to being dipped into at spare moments. I hope it will gain wide readership.
Rating: 3.5
August 20, 2017
This book is nonfiction science. Now I'll admit, I did not excel at science in school, except biology. I had a great teacher for that, so that made a huge difference in liking the subject and doing well at it. But if all science teachers across the nation could be like the author of this book, kids everywhere would love the subject of SCIENCE. He was laugh out loud funny. I was rolling with laughter at work, which is a no-no (all fun is frowned upon at work). What fun.
I enjoyed his approach to the body and its functions. He didn't speak over my head. He told this in a way that all could understand and not once did he come across as a 'know it all'. I really enjoyed it....it spoke to my inner school geek.
I enjoyed his approach to the body and its functions. He didn't speak over my head. He told this in a way that all could understand and not once did he come across as a 'know it all'. I really enjoyed it....it spoke to my inner school geek.
February 4, 2017
If you've ever read James Hamblin's articles for the Atlantic, or watched his delightful video series that shares a name with his new book, you won't be surprised to hear that this is both insightful and a great deal of fun. If you haven't...do! Hamblin explores every facet of the human condition, what we actually know about it, what companies pretend to know to sell us stuff, and how we should think about our bodies and our health. It's a quick but meaningful read, well worth picking up.
June 21, 2017
I started off really enjoying this book. However, the more I read it, the more I saw how condescending the author seemed to be towards anyone who had opinions other than his own, even other scientists. He appears completely unwilling to even entertain the idea that something could be true unless it has extensive scientific research. So- if something is not tested, according to him it can't be true, and therefore is fodder for ridicule. He also has a way of taking a question and talking around it, instead of truly answering it.
Because of the way he talked of others, and his close-mindedness (which, in my opinion, someone who delves with science and discovery should be much more open minded and willing to try) I found myself going from being excited about the book, to more and more disappointed and a little disgusted.
I gave three stars because the content was interesting, and his humor was good and did have me laughing out loud a couple of times. If he could just reign in the ego a bit, it would be a great book!
Because of the way he talked of others, and his close-mindedness (which, in my opinion, someone who delves with science and discovery should be much more open minded and willing to try) I found myself going from being excited about the book, to more and more disappointed and a little disgusted.
I gave three stars because the content was interesting, and his humor was good and did have me laughing out loud a couple of times. If he could just reign in the ego a bit, it would be a great book!
February 6, 2017
If Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body by James Hamblin
“If Our Bodies Could Talk” is a fun and educational pop-science book on how our bodies work. Science writer, web personality and senior editor at the Atlantic magazine, James Hamblin, takes readers on an enjoyable journey of the human body. This entertaining 400-page book includes many questions and answers broken out by the following six categories of body use are: 1. Appearing, 2. Perceiving, 3. Eating, 4. Drinking, 5. Relating, and 6. Enduring.
Positives:
1. Enjoyable, inquisitive, well-written science book suited for the masses.
2. The fascinating topic of how our bodies work.
3. The tone of this book is fun. The author makes use of questions and answers in an illustrative, childlike-curiosity manner to drive the narrative.
4. It’s a reason-based book. It defends the best of our current knowledge. “So this book is a practical approach to understanding our bodies, predicated on the idea that memorizing facts is less important than developing insight.”
5. It does a very good of defining terms so it can be used as a quick reference. “Health in a way at once obvious and radical: “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
6. The book is full of interesting facts that complement the interesting narrative. “The average person has about six pounds of skin.”
7. The book is accessible to all levels but there are some unintended philosophical gold nuggets. “Max Factor’s approach is a textbook example of the sales tactic that is still so successful in selling body-improving products: convince people that there is a deficit in some concrete way, and then sell the antidote.” Bonus, “We can’t always choose our mirrors, but we can choose the kind of mirrors we will be—a kind of mirror, or a malevolent mirror, or anything in between.”
8. This book is anything but boring, you are bound to find amusing tidbits. “Tattoos are about defiance and individuality, but also resignation.” Bonus, “Blue-eyed women three hundred years ago were considered witches and burned at the stake.”
9. Historical tidbits as well. “Among the dire conditions that led to the 1965 riots was lack of access to health care. It has become a common refrain in public health that a person’s zip code is a better predictor of their health than their genetic code.”
10. The science behind itching. “What we know is itch is not simply neuropathic, it’s not simply immunologic, and it’s not simply in the epithelial barrier, but probably a combination of all these.”
11. All those childlike questions, you asked and wondered but never followed up to answer why. “Why do stomachs rumble? The only way they could temporarily silence the borborygmi, they discovered, was by pressing on her left hypochondrium—the upper abdomen just below the ribs (hypo = below, chondrium = cartilage). This, incidentally, is where the term hypochondria comes from, as it was once believed that worry arose in the abdomen.”
12. The truth about vitamins. “Unlike smoking less or exercising more, forgoing multivitamins is a health recommendation that involves no effort.”
13. An interesting look at gluten. “It happened when we believed that cholera was spread through the air, and when we believed beriberi was caused by a toxin in rice, and it seems to be happening now with gluten.”
14. Important topics like conflict of interest as it pertains to our health. “Conflicts of interest exist whenever enormous industries stand to gain by finding evidence in support of their product.”
15. Do you need eight glasses of water a day? Find out.
16. Discoveries that have changed the world of medicine. “Crane’s discovery of the sodium-glucose transport pump, a tiny gateway into the cells of our guts, revolutionized hydration. A 1978 editorial in The Lancet would call this “potentially the most important medical advance this century.””
17. Hot-button topics like sex and gender issues. “One percent of the world’s population is estimated to be not male or female but intersex.”
18. A look at gene therapy.
19. Heart disease. “The solutions to prevent it are before us, but instead we have created a system predicated on treating the condition—shocking and burning people’s hearts to temporarily restore normalcy, at great cost and risk, most often without addressing the fundamental causes.”
20. Notes and bibliography included.
Negatives:
1. This book is very basic; it’s intended for the masses so don’t expect scientific depth.
2. I would have included a chapter on fake science, homeopathy, comes to mind.
3. I would have added more tables and graphs to complement the excellent material.
In summary, this book is a treat to read; it educates while piquing our curiosity throughout. Hamblin does a wonderful job of selecting wide and diverse topics regarding our human bodies and provides useful information. It lacks scientific depth and I would have dedicated a chapter on pseudoscience (he does debunk fake science here and there). The book deserves five starts because it is practical and fun to read. I highly recommend it!
Further suggestions: “The Gene: An Intimate History” and “The Emperor of All Maladies” by Siddhartha Mukherjee, “The Universe Within: The Deep History of the Human Body” and “Your Inner Fish…” by Neil Shubin, “The Story of the Human Body” by Daniel Lieberman, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” by Sean B. Carroll, “The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today” by Rob Dunn, and “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan.
“If Our Bodies Could Talk” is a fun and educational pop-science book on how our bodies work. Science writer, web personality and senior editor at the Atlantic magazine, James Hamblin, takes readers on an enjoyable journey of the human body. This entertaining 400-page book includes many questions and answers broken out by the following six categories of body use are: 1. Appearing, 2. Perceiving, 3. Eating, 4. Drinking, 5. Relating, and 6. Enduring.
Positives:
1. Enjoyable, inquisitive, well-written science book suited for the masses.
2. The fascinating topic of how our bodies work.
3. The tone of this book is fun. The author makes use of questions and answers in an illustrative, childlike-curiosity manner to drive the narrative.
4. It’s a reason-based book. It defends the best of our current knowledge. “So this book is a practical approach to understanding our bodies, predicated on the idea that memorizing facts is less important than developing insight.”
5. It does a very good of defining terms so it can be used as a quick reference. “Health in a way at once obvious and radical: “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
6. The book is full of interesting facts that complement the interesting narrative. “The average person has about six pounds of skin.”
7. The book is accessible to all levels but there are some unintended philosophical gold nuggets. “Max Factor’s approach is a textbook example of the sales tactic that is still so successful in selling body-improving products: convince people that there is a deficit in some concrete way, and then sell the antidote.” Bonus, “We can’t always choose our mirrors, but we can choose the kind of mirrors we will be—a kind of mirror, or a malevolent mirror, or anything in between.”
8. This book is anything but boring, you are bound to find amusing tidbits. “Tattoos are about defiance and individuality, but also resignation.” Bonus, “Blue-eyed women three hundred years ago were considered witches and burned at the stake.”
9. Historical tidbits as well. “Among the dire conditions that led to the 1965 riots was lack of access to health care. It has become a common refrain in public health that a person’s zip code is a better predictor of their health than their genetic code.”
10. The science behind itching. “What we know is itch is not simply neuropathic, it’s not simply immunologic, and it’s not simply in the epithelial barrier, but probably a combination of all these.”
11. All those childlike questions, you asked and wondered but never followed up to answer why. “Why do stomachs rumble? The only way they could temporarily silence the borborygmi, they discovered, was by pressing on her left hypochondrium—the upper abdomen just below the ribs (hypo = below, chondrium = cartilage). This, incidentally, is where the term hypochondria comes from, as it was once believed that worry arose in the abdomen.”
12. The truth about vitamins. “Unlike smoking less or exercising more, forgoing multivitamins is a health recommendation that involves no effort.”
13. An interesting look at gluten. “It happened when we believed that cholera was spread through the air, and when we believed beriberi was caused by a toxin in rice, and it seems to be happening now with gluten.”
14. Important topics like conflict of interest as it pertains to our health. “Conflicts of interest exist whenever enormous industries stand to gain by finding evidence in support of their product.”
15. Do you need eight glasses of water a day? Find out.
16. Discoveries that have changed the world of medicine. “Crane’s discovery of the sodium-glucose transport pump, a tiny gateway into the cells of our guts, revolutionized hydration. A 1978 editorial in The Lancet would call this “potentially the most important medical advance this century.””
17. Hot-button topics like sex and gender issues. “One percent of the world’s population is estimated to be not male or female but intersex.”
18. A look at gene therapy.
19. Heart disease. “The solutions to prevent it are before us, but instead we have created a system predicated on treating the condition—shocking and burning people’s hearts to temporarily restore normalcy, at great cost and risk, most often without addressing the fundamental causes.”
20. Notes and bibliography included.
Negatives:
1. This book is very basic; it’s intended for the masses so don’t expect scientific depth.
2. I would have included a chapter on fake science, homeopathy, comes to mind.
3. I would have added more tables and graphs to complement the excellent material.
In summary, this book is a treat to read; it educates while piquing our curiosity throughout. Hamblin does a wonderful job of selecting wide and diverse topics regarding our human bodies and provides useful information. It lacks scientific depth and I would have dedicated a chapter on pseudoscience (he does debunk fake science here and there). The book deserves five starts because it is practical and fun to read. I highly recommend it!
Further suggestions: “The Gene: An Intimate History” and “The Emperor of All Maladies” by Siddhartha Mukherjee, “The Universe Within: The Deep History of the Human Body” and “Your Inner Fish…” by Neil Shubin, “The Story of the Human Body” by Daniel Lieberman, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari, “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” by Sean B. Carroll, “The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today” by Rob Dunn, and “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan.
March 5, 2021
2.5 Stars...
I think this started off interesting. I wouldn’t say I’m the hugest fan of pop science books but I came across this and was intrigued enough by the Q&A format and the idea of our bodies “talking” that I decided I wanted to read this. To start with, I have a public health background and have worked in international public health communication for the past 10 or so years. I think this book is definitely written for the American context and makes some assumptions that aren’t necessarily fact about the rest of the world.
My primary issue with this book is the author’s condescending tone. What at first begins as sharp, dry wit at best but more truthfully is really sharp sarcasm soon becomes open condescension for the people asking the questions, for the public made up of untrained medical experts who of course don’t know everything, for other scientists and doctors whose views aren’t in line with his. And I like wit and even sarcasm, I’m totally here for humour but when you’re the omniscient one and the joke is never on you, when there’s not even a pretense of acknowledgement that your answer may not be the right one particularly when a lot of answers really ARE “agnotologistic” “research results are mixed...” type answers, when all of those things fill the book, it becomes a little pompous and unbearable to read. The author is particularly harsh on people he doesn’t agree with and almost comically-impressed by any doctor with an Ivy League CV. The author is very comfortable making clear that doctors and scientists don’t have the answers in a way that is kind of condescending (as they they should have the answers if not for economic or cultural factors which he is so much above) but also very quick in detaching himself from responsibility for not having the answer.
My second issue with this book is some of the questions. I call BS that some of these questions are asked by the average person. I feel like many of the questions were made up to suit the script or narrative for that chapter. Or if they were genuine questions, they stemmed from high level discussions with his peers. I could think of a million more likely, more relevant questions that people would actually want to know about. I feel like a real opportunity to answer pressing questions that real people, non-doctors actually have about the human was eschewed to instead present cutting edge research or medical anomalies that most people would be otherwise unaware of. And that’s fine, but this is presented as a Q&A answering honest to goodness real questions about the body. I found that there were many answers I wasn’t interested in just because the questions were so contrived and uninterestingly set up. Some of the answers were pretty technical and unnecessary in completely not answering the question or answering in a way that was only borderline relevant. It felt like some of the interviews and stories were forced to fit into the box of the questions. It definitely wasn’t flowing anecdotal support of an answer. I feel like the eating and drinking parts especially were missed opportunities because there are lots of real questions around that.
My third issue with the book was the clear (environmental) agenda the author was pushing. The agenda was not necessarily wrong or something I’m in disagreement with, but I think this book pushed that very hard and in a way that wasn’t necessarily compatible with medical fact. In certain arguments, you could see that the author had definitely picked a side and was aggressively pushing that rather than giving the overview of the science that you would expect. But then again, it is only to be expected since this a “doctor answers” sort of book. He will obviously be influenced by his view on the world- vegan, there’s a population explosion, the world won’t be able to cope. Somewhere the idea of one child per couple is floated. But when you consider that the greatest, most exponential population growth is happening in the global south, then the messenger saying the things being said becomes a little awkward and not because I think the facts are wrong, but the way it’s all presented.
I liked that the author pushed certain issues like race and inequality and even transgender issues but I was often left completely baffled by the placement of these issues and the casualness with which they were treated. If you’re going to bring them up and you have the space of a book, I think they deserve a “so what, this is why all of us should care” in addition to a “by the way.” This is a very critical sort of book. The last chapter about death made me particularly uncomfortable because I don’t think it took enough into account people’s cultural and emotional connections around death. It was very dismissive of how Americans and even other cultures and religions view death and very flippant about something that is deep for a lot of people. And I get that the flippant tone was intentional to destigmatize death but it also felt very tone deaf and very reliant on one source without actually considering any other sides. So no, I ended up not liking this even though it started well.
I think this started off interesting. I wouldn’t say I’m the hugest fan of pop science books but I came across this and was intrigued enough by the Q&A format and the idea of our bodies “talking” that I decided I wanted to read this. To start with, I have a public health background and have worked in international public health communication for the past 10 or so years. I think this book is definitely written for the American context and makes some assumptions that aren’t necessarily fact about the rest of the world.
My primary issue with this book is the author’s condescending tone. What at first begins as sharp, dry wit at best but more truthfully is really sharp sarcasm soon becomes open condescension for the people asking the questions, for the public made up of untrained medical experts who of course don’t know everything, for other scientists and doctors whose views aren’t in line with his. And I like wit and even sarcasm, I’m totally here for humour but when you’re the omniscient one and the joke is never on you, when there’s not even a pretense of acknowledgement that your answer may not be the right one particularly when a lot of answers really ARE “agnotologistic” “research results are mixed...” type answers, when all of those things fill the book, it becomes a little pompous and unbearable to read. The author is particularly harsh on people he doesn’t agree with and almost comically-impressed by any doctor with an Ivy League CV. The author is very comfortable making clear that doctors and scientists don’t have the answers in a way that is kind of condescending (as they they should have the answers if not for economic or cultural factors which he is so much above) but also very quick in detaching himself from responsibility for not having the answer.
My second issue with this book is some of the questions. I call BS that some of these questions are asked by the average person. I feel like many of the questions were made up to suit the script or narrative for that chapter. Or if they were genuine questions, they stemmed from high level discussions with his peers. I could think of a million more likely, more relevant questions that people would actually want to know about. I feel like a real opportunity to answer pressing questions that real people, non-doctors actually have about the human was eschewed to instead present cutting edge research or medical anomalies that most people would be otherwise unaware of. And that’s fine, but this is presented as a Q&A answering honest to goodness real questions about the body. I found that there were many answers I wasn’t interested in just because the questions were so contrived and uninterestingly set up. Some of the answers were pretty technical and unnecessary in completely not answering the question or answering in a way that was only borderline relevant. It felt like some of the interviews and stories were forced to fit into the box of the questions. It definitely wasn’t flowing anecdotal support of an answer. I feel like the eating and drinking parts especially were missed opportunities because there are lots of real questions around that.
My third issue with the book was the clear (environmental) agenda the author was pushing. The agenda was not necessarily wrong or something I’m in disagreement with, but I think this book pushed that very hard and in a way that wasn’t necessarily compatible with medical fact. In certain arguments, you could see that the author had definitely picked a side and was aggressively pushing that rather than giving the overview of the science that you would expect. But then again, it is only to be expected since this a “doctor answers” sort of book. He will obviously be influenced by his view on the world- vegan, there’s a population explosion, the world won’t be able to cope. Somewhere the idea of one child per couple is floated. But when you consider that the greatest, most exponential population growth is happening in the global south, then the messenger saying the things being said becomes a little awkward and not because I think the facts are wrong, but the way it’s all presented.
I liked that the author pushed certain issues like race and inequality and even transgender issues but I was often left completely baffled by the placement of these issues and the casualness with which they were treated. If you’re going to bring them up and you have the space of a book, I think they deserve a “so what, this is why all of us should care” in addition to a “by the way.” This is a very critical sort of book. The last chapter about death made me particularly uncomfortable because I don’t think it took enough into account people’s cultural and emotional connections around death. It was very dismissive of how Americans and even other cultures and religions view death and very flippant about something that is deep for a lot of people. And I get that the flippant tone was intentional to destigmatize death but it also felt very tone deaf and very reliant on one source without actually considering any other sides. So no, I ended up not liking this even though it started well.
March 8, 2017
Early in this I thought that I would be reading a series of question-and-answer trivia on assorted health topics, arranged in sidebar-like sections similar to what one would find in a popular-health magazine. It turned out that Hamblin had something more ambitious in mind and before I was midway I was impressed with the scope and depth of his coverage. I appreciated his social agenda and critique of the American medical system and insurance industry. And it was just entertaining, too.
I tore through most of this yesterday and although I wanted to take a breather to absorb it, I could not stop reading (just one more question, okay just one more . . . ). I happened to be sitting in a hospital waiting room of all places, accompanying a friend, and perhaps the healthcare setting was involved, and I was a bit of a captive audience - but I was surrounded by other reading options of ubiquitous Rodale Magazine empire variety and I still chose to stick with this.
I can't recall any nonfiction I've read recently more in need of an index than this - because Hamblin's question-headings do little to reveal all his subjects. E.g, how is anyone going to know that (for example) the Watts Riots and institutional racism are discussed under the question of "Can I get taller?" or that transgender health/politics and Johnson's War on Poverty are discussed under the question of "pheromones"?! He rambles into unexpected territory and his transitions are a little strange and almost non sequiturs, but I almost never felt talked down to - with only a few exceptions he didn't seem to be dumbing down beyond what an educated reader who is not a medical professional would be interested in knowing, which I would contrast with The Telomere Effect by Blackburn and Epel, which has received praise from many esteemed thinkers but that I thought was padded with patronizing explanations and misplaced self-help advice.
I tore through most of this yesterday and although I wanted to take a breather to absorb it, I could not stop reading (just one more question, okay just one more . . . ). I happened to be sitting in a hospital waiting room of all places, accompanying a friend, and perhaps the healthcare setting was involved, and I was a bit of a captive audience - but I was surrounded by other reading options of ubiquitous Rodale Magazine empire variety and I still chose to stick with this.
I can't recall any nonfiction I've read recently more in need of an index than this - because Hamblin's question-headings do little to reveal all his subjects. E.g, how is anyone going to know that (for example) the Watts Riots and institutional racism are discussed under the question of "Can I get taller?" or that transgender health/politics and Johnson's War on Poverty are discussed under the question of "pheromones"?! He rambles into unexpected territory and his transitions are a little strange and almost non sequiturs, but I almost never felt talked down to - with only a few exceptions he didn't seem to be dumbing down beyond what an educated reader who is not a medical professional would be interested in knowing, which I would contrast with The Telomere Effect by Blackburn and Epel, which has received praise from many esteemed thinkers but that I thought was padded with patronizing explanations and misplaced self-help advice.
November 17, 2021
An extremely interesting tour of our bodies… I found myself talking to my wife about this book when I wasn’t listening to it!
December 9, 2023
Catching up...
I have been on a radiant health mission. For the last year and a half, my husband has had several maladies, that are now finally getting the attention he deserves.
Needless to say…
It has been a challenging year. Things happen that we have come to recognize that we have no control over. Having no answers or solutions and thinking we are doing everything to eat right and exercise regularly but…
Still hopeful that answers, solutions, and possibly cures will be forthcoming.
And so…
My mission. Some books I have reviewed, some I have just read in-between the novels and moving on from them. Taking a little bit along the way.
But this one…
I needed to share with you why I am disappointed with it.
James Hamblin is a graduate of Indiana University’s medical school and a senior editor at The Atlantic. This book comes out of his online video series of the same name.
In this book…
He has anecdotes, factoids and curiosities, but not much else. He attempts to talk about something serious, but in a joking way, and that comes off as annoying (to this reader). Was I supposed to smile?
He sets up readers with 6 parts. Appearing: the superficial parts; perceiving: the feeling parts; eating: the sustaining parts; drinking: the hydrating parts; relating: the sex parts; and, enduring: the dying parts.
Under each part are several questions that seem to address the various areas of our body, in hopes that if our bodies could talk, it would. (Hence: the title of the book.)
As an example…
Some questions explored include…
But what about my chin? What is a deviated septum? What makes hair curl? When I shave or cut my hair, does it grow back faster? Why are nipples sexualized? Why do stomachs rumble? What is gluten? What happens to weight when it’s “lost”? why not just play it safe and avoid preservatives? How is laughter medicine? Why do ears ring? Does caffeine make me live longer? How does my heart know to beat? Is aging inevitable?
And so on.
So…
I had higher hopes on this one, and was mildly amused, but mostly driven to distraction.
I leave it to you to decide if this is the book for you.
I have been on a radiant health mission. For the last year and a half, my husband has had several maladies, that are now finally getting the attention he deserves.
Needless to say…
It has been a challenging year. Things happen that we have come to recognize that we have no control over. Having no answers or solutions and thinking we are doing everything to eat right and exercise regularly but…
Still hopeful that answers, solutions, and possibly cures will be forthcoming.
And so…
My mission. Some books I have reviewed, some I have just read in-between the novels and moving on from them. Taking a little bit along the way.
But this one…
I needed to share with you why I am disappointed with it.
James Hamblin is a graduate of Indiana University’s medical school and a senior editor at The Atlantic. This book comes out of his online video series of the same name.
In this book…
He has anecdotes, factoids and curiosities, but not much else. He attempts to talk about something serious, but in a joking way, and that comes off as annoying (to this reader). Was I supposed to smile?
He sets up readers with 6 parts. Appearing: the superficial parts; perceiving: the feeling parts; eating: the sustaining parts; drinking: the hydrating parts; relating: the sex parts; and, enduring: the dying parts.
Under each part are several questions that seem to address the various areas of our body, in hopes that if our bodies could talk, it would. (Hence: the title of the book.)
As an example…
Some questions explored include…
But what about my chin? What is a deviated septum? What makes hair curl? When I shave or cut my hair, does it grow back faster? Why are nipples sexualized? Why do stomachs rumble? What is gluten? What happens to weight when it’s “lost”? why not just play it safe and avoid preservatives? How is laughter medicine? Why do ears ring? Does caffeine make me live longer? How does my heart know to beat? Is aging inevitable?
And so on.
So…
I had higher hopes on this one, and was mildly amused, but mostly driven to distraction.
I leave it to you to decide if this is the book for you.
February 21, 2021
An interesting read. I got answers to questions I had and also to questions I didn't expect/know I had. Fun!
October 13, 2017
The title of this book is a bit misleading, in a sense that it suggests it's something like a guide on what to do depending on the signals ("talk") the body provides. It's not. It's rather a book of general, current (and that's key) knowledge about one's body and system. As the author puts it in the epilogue: "...this guide to operating and maintaining a human body is no guide in any prescriptive sense. It’s rather about maximizing autonomy, guiding only in a fundamental way: to encourage questioning of the cultural and commercial messages all around us, challenging normalcy, and remaining skeptical of simplistic solutions."
And it was very informative, and, above all, helped put things in perspective and unlearn common knowledge that's either obsolete (the "current" key-word I mentioned earlier) or unsubstantiated. Especially regarding "knowledge" that we acquire from pop culture or commercials - e.g the gluten-craze. Very interesting and fun to read overall (with a couple of strong laugh-out-loud moments), albeit getting slightly boring in a couple of places - or maybe it was just me not being very interested in a particular subject.
And it was very informative, and, above all, helped put things in perspective and unlearn common knowledge that's either obsolete (the "current" key-word I mentioned earlier) or unsubstantiated. Especially regarding "knowledge" that we acquire from pop culture or commercials - e.g the gluten-craze. Very interesting and fun to read overall (with a couple of strong laugh-out-loud moments), albeit getting slightly boring in a couple of places - or maybe it was just me not being very interested in a particular subject.
February 7, 2017
I already had a giant, mostly-intellectual, crush on James Hamblin going into reading this from following his work in The Atlantic, so my views might be a bit biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great conversational explanations of health issues where you learn new things and everything is explained simply, but you're not falling asleep like you would if this were a textbook. The illustrations liven up the book too. Super non-fiction read!
August 12, 2017
I get the feeling that the questions are not ones asked by patients, but rather created for the purpose of allowing the author to talk about favorite subjects. Clearly, he's against fad diets like gluten-free, but many times he rambles and doesn't have a point.
January 11, 2021
This book should be a mandatory read in high school. I feel sad for the things I believed and said before reading this about the human body.
January 23, 2019
As anyone else who has worked through this book will tell you - it is not what you expect, going by the cover alone. I wish a book existed that was really "A Guide To Operating and Maintaining a Human Body", but this is not that book. Hamblin readily admits this himself, in the penultimate paragraph of the Epilogue (took him long enough right?).
But none of the above is a problem - in fact, this book is all the more engaging for the lack of conclusive answers that it has about the questions posed. It is structured like an FAQ, if an FAQ were put in a book and topically split into six chapters. While Hamblin maintains a casual manner of narration (with a healthy dose of his brand of humour injected throughout), he typically does not force absolute answers to questions, but provides the evidence while guiding you towards an answers that are reasonable (or often enough, when there is no answer, to many more questions).
I enjoyed the final chapter of this book (titled The Dying Parts) the most. If you haven't been doing so in the first five chapters already, Hamblin does a good job of forcing you to pause, put down the book and think. It is a departure from the fairly light mood of the rest of the book. Part of it is a personal health wake-up call; an effective one since it is framed in terms of death. Some parts are a little depressing (particularly surrounding topics of health span, lifespan, and population). Hamblin's ultimate goal from this book is not to give you all the answers (although he does an admirable job of it) - it is to make you more medically (and generally) curious. In my opinion, by the closing of the book, he achieves it.
If you couldn't tell thus far, I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it, as long as you go in knowing that this is certainly not a complete manual on the human body (which, I think, was a lure by Hamblin all along).
But none of the above is a problem - in fact, this book is all the more engaging for the lack of conclusive answers that it has about the questions posed. It is structured like an FAQ, if an FAQ were put in a book and topically split into six chapters. While Hamblin maintains a casual manner of narration (with a healthy dose of his brand of humour injected throughout), he typically does not force absolute answers to questions, but provides the evidence while guiding you towards an answers that are reasonable (or often enough, when there is no answer, to many more questions).
I enjoyed the final chapter of this book (titled The Dying Parts) the most. If you haven't been doing so in the first five chapters already, Hamblin does a good job of forcing you to pause, put down the book and think. It is a departure from the fairly light mood of the rest of the book. Part of it is a personal health wake-up call; an effective one since it is framed in terms of death. Some parts are a little depressing (particularly surrounding topics of health span, lifespan, and population). Hamblin's ultimate goal from this book is not to give you all the answers (although he does an admirable job of it) - it is to make you more medically (and generally) curious. In my opinion, by the closing of the book, he achieves it.
If you couldn't tell thus far, I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it, as long as you go in knowing that this is certainly not a complete manual on the human body (which, I think, was a lure by Hamblin all along).
August 12, 2020
As so often in life, the most interesting bits happen towards the end.
September 22, 2017
Organized around, and spends much ink addressing, ignorant questions.
September 22, 2020
Summary: This book was funny and full of fun facts, but I didn't love that it read like a collection of very short essays.
I've enjoyed Dr. James Hamblin's writing at The Atlantic this year and was excited to see that he had a book coming out. I didn't quickly get a library copy of his latest, Clean, so I turned to his backlist instead. In If Our Bodies Could Talk, he addresses health questions that have regularly gotten press attention (eg, do cell phones cause cancer?) and questions commonly asked on the internet (eg, can a contact lens stuck behind my eye enter my brain?). The book is structured in a question and answer format.
The organization of this book was quite good. The questions are broken into sections by theme and often flow naturally. My only complaint about the book is that this format made it feel like a collection of short essays. I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a book while I was reading it. It was a better substitute for the enjoyment I get reading The Atlantic, then for reading another book.
The content the author selected was fantastic. Through apparently simple questions, he addresses an impressive range of social issues and shares a wealth of biology knowledge. He brings a lot of nuance to every answer, clarifying topics that often get simplistic media coverage. He also took every question seriously. It felt like talking to a particularly kind, if sometimes sarcastic, doctor who recognizes that everyone's health concerns deserve a response. The book was also rich in fun facts that I constantly wanted to share. The tone, while compassionate, was also light and often made me laugh. It wasn't quite as laugh-out-loud funny as Mary Roach's books, but with the eclectic collection of topics and serious approach to quirky questions, I think this book will particularly appeal to fans of her work.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey
I've enjoyed Dr. James Hamblin's writing at The Atlantic this year and was excited to see that he had a book coming out. I didn't quickly get a library copy of his latest, Clean, so I turned to his backlist instead. In If Our Bodies Could Talk, he addresses health questions that have regularly gotten press attention (eg, do cell phones cause cancer?) and questions commonly asked on the internet (eg, can a contact lens stuck behind my eye enter my brain?). The book is structured in a question and answer format.
The organization of this book was quite good. The questions are broken into sections by theme and often flow naturally. My only complaint about the book is that this format made it feel like a collection of short essays. I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a book while I was reading it. It was a better substitute for the enjoyment I get reading The Atlantic, then for reading another book.
The content the author selected was fantastic. Through apparently simple questions, he addresses an impressive range of social issues and shares a wealth of biology knowledge. He brings a lot of nuance to every answer, clarifying topics that often get simplistic media coverage. He also took every question seriously. It felt like talking to a particularly kind, if sometimes sarcastic, doctor who recognizes that everyone's health concerns deserve a response. The book was also rich in fun facts that I constantly wanted to share. The tone, while compassionate, was also light and often made me laugh. It wasn't quite as laugh-out-loud funny as Mary Roach's books, but with the eclectic collection of topics and serious approach to quirky questions, I think this book will particularly appeal to fans of her work.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey
April 24, 2021
I'm two for two on great audiobooks for road trips recently. I think Hamblin's sarcastic sense of humor in his writing (and speaking-he reads the audiobook himself) will either land for you or it won't, but this book of essentially fleshed out trivia about bodies was really engaging and informative for me. A great audiobook in my opinion is one that makes you go "wait WHAT????" and rewind it to hear some wild fact again and I did that a fair amount with this one.
March 23, 2018
Дуже цікава і пізнавальна книжка. Розвіяла чимало міфів: чи варто постійно "ігідровуватися", як рекомендують фітнес-експерти; чи дійсно такий шкідливий глютен; скільки годин насправді треба спати; що ми знаємо про здорове / збалансоване харчування; вітаміни та харчові додатки; на скільки корисною є "електорлітова вода"; вплив кофеїну на нервову систему. Джеймс Хамблін також ділиться останніми дослідженнями у галузях біогенетики та мікробіому людського організму. Усі ці речі видались мені дійсно пізнавальними і цікавими.
У той самий час я не можу сказати, що аж надто захоплений книгою.
По-перше, заголовок явно перебільшує масштаб книги - дуже багато цікавих, "гарячих" і дискусійних тем, пропущені або згадані дуже побіжно. Питання особистої гімнастики, проблеми зору, психічні захворювання - ці теми по важливості ні чим не гірші за ті, що згадуються вище, але практично не зачіпаються. І це тільки ті про які я зміг згадати зараз. По ходу читання книжки дуже часто розділи присвячені цікавим темам обривалися майже раптово і залишали чимало відкритих питань.
По-друге, у книзі багато "опініонейтид" заяв з приводу, практично світоглядних переконань автора, на тему загальноприйнятних підходів до особистого здоров'я та системи охорони здоров'я в цілому. Попри те, що ці теми місцями є вельми цікавими, досить викривальними, але явно не тими, які автор обіцяє розкрити в стислому описі змісту. Більш того, ці теми здебільшого зачіпають лише США і практично не говорять про те, як ті самі проблеми вирішуються (і чи є вони в принципі) в інших країнах. Місцями, особливо наприкінці книги, з пізнавальної популярної публіцистики на тему здоров'я текст перетворюється на політичний маніфест щодо системи охорони здоров'я.
Я не шкодую, що про��итав цю книжку - я ніколи не цікавився питаннями здоров'я та правильного способу життя і тому дізнався багато нового та отримав спростування певних хибних міфів на цю тему. Але все ж, в цілому, складається враження, що будучи журналістом "Атлантики", автор просто помітив, що у нього накопичилось певна кількість статтей на тему здоров'я. Тож він вирішив їх підредагувати об'єднавши в досить непевну і слабо зв'язано спільним змістом збірку і видати як окрему книжку. Це не так і погано, але йому явно треба було б трохи зачекати і "донапрацювати" матеріалу і більш ретельно його відредагувати, щоб не було такого явного відчуття, що це не єдина книга, а просто набір статтей на одну тематику.
У той самий час я не можу сказати, що аж надто захоплений книгою.
По-перше, заголовок явно перебільшує масштаб книги - дуже багато цікавих, "гарячих" і дискусійних тем, пропущені або згадані дуже побіжно. Питання особистої гімнастики, проблеми зору, психічні захворювання - ці теми по важливості ні чим не гірші за ті, що згадуються вище, але практично не зачіпаються. І це тільки ті про які я зміг згадати зараз. По ходу читання книжки дуже часто розділи присвячені цікавим темам обривалися майже раптово і залишали чимало відкритих питань.
По-друге, у книзі багато "опініонейтид" заяв з приводу, практично світоглядних переконань автора, на тему загальноприйнятних підходів до особистого здоров'я та системи охорони здоров'я в цілому. Попри те, що ці теми місцями є вельми цікавими, досить викривальними, але явно не тими, які автор обіцяє розкрити в стислому описі змісту. Більш того, ці теми здебільшого зачіпають лише США і практично не говорять про те, як ті самі проблеми вирішуються (і чи є вони в принципі) в інших країнах. Місцями, особливо наприкінці книги, з пізнавальної популярної публіцистики на тему здоров'я текст перетворюється на політичний маніфест щодо системи охорони здоров'я.
Я не шкодую, що про��итав цю книжку - я ніколи не цікавився питаннями здоров'я та правильного способу життя і тому дізнався багато нового та отримав спростування певних хибних міфів на цю тему. Але все ж, в цілому, складається враження, що будучи журналістом "Атлантики", автор просто помітив, що у нього накопичилось певна кількість статтей на тему здоров'я. Тож він вирішив їх підредагувати об'єднавши в досить непевну і слабо зв'язано спільним змістом збірку і видати як окрему книжку. Це не так і погано, але йому явно треба було б трохи зачекати і "донапрацювати" матеріалу і більш ретельно його відредагувати, щоб не було такого явного відчуття, що це не єдина книга, а просто набір статтей на одну тематику.
March 2, 2017
Many folks take better care of their cell phones, cars and computers than their own bodies. Perhaps it is because they have never read or studied an owner's manual. Well, this book is a good place to start!
It is filled with intriguing questions which are answered with the knowledge of experts, anecdotal illustrations, and observations filled with wit and humor.
Learn about itching and scratching, vaccines and antibiotics, diets and supplements, sleep requirements and dehydration, cancer and heart disease and so much more.
Common old wives tales and popular, Internet-fueled myths about human health are dispelled. Good, helpful and scientifically backed advice and facts are shared.
A worthwhile read! I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
It is filled with intriguing questions which are answered with the knowledge of experts, anecdotal illustrations, and observations filled with wit and humor.
Learn about itching and scratching, vaccines and antibiotics, diets and supplements, sleep requirements and dehydration, cancer and heart disease and so much more.
Common old wives tales and popular, Internet-fueled myths about human health are dispelled. Good, helpful and scientifically backed advice and facts are shared.
A worthwhile read! I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
June 25, 2017
This fascinating book is basically a collection of questions and answers about human bodies, which could be really dry and encyclopedia-like. But the questions are things like:
If I don't have dimples, could I give them to myself? (Enter bizarre world of elective cosmetic surgery.)
Am I tall enough?
What is itch?
Can I "boost" my immune system?
Colonoscopy: This is the best we can do?
Why do males have nipples?
How dangerous are tight pants?
If I lost my nose could science rebuild one for me?
What happens to my body when I die?
Even the questions that I didn't think sounded all that interesting were totally absorbing.
I'll definitely be following this author and looking forward to more of his writing.
If I don't have dimples, could I give them to myself? (Enter bizarre world of elective cosmetic surgery.)
Am I tall enough?
What is itch?
Can I "boost" my immune system?
Colonoscopy: This is the best we can do?
Why do males have nipples?
How dangerous are tight pants?
If I lost my nose could science rebuild one for me?
What happens to my body when I die?
Even the questions that I didn't think sounded all that interesting were totally absorbing.
I'll definitely be following this author and looking forward to more of his writing.
June 8, 2017
Hamblin takes a personal narrative to address the topics in this book to make it less of a lecture and more of a conversation (much like his previous works and articles). He highlights important social and political implications beyond the science of the topics, prompting an important and much needed discussion on the idea of autonomy, access to healthcare, human rights, etc. That and he further advances the public engagement and awareness of science, which also is important.
Read
December 22, 2019Vacation reads #7
Pop-science. Loved the author's humour most of the time. Interesting answers to various body-linked questions. Not an actual guide.
Pop-science. Loved the author's humour most of the time. Interesting answers to various body-linked questions. Not an actual guide.
July 27, 2022
Bardzo edukująca książka. Dowiedziałem się dzięki niej wiele ważnych rzeczy na temat mojego organizmu oraz otoczenia. Podzielona jest na pięć części, autor odpowiada w niej na często zadawane przez nas pytania. Zmieniła moje spojrzenie na wiele rzeczy. Niestety muszę odjąć gwiazdkę ponieważ autor czasami pisał od rzeczy jakby chciał uzupełnić tekst laniem wody.
Want to read
December 26, 2021I WISH I READ ALL OF IT SE ISHTE FULL ME INTERESTING SHID EXPLAINED IN AN EVEN MORE INTERESTING WAY po e gjeta te perdorur per me lire do e blej esht si "interesting fact of the day" qe ke qef ta lexosh edhe nese sometimes it feels like it doesnt lead to anything ose sikur esht info useless qe sdo te te duhet ndonjeher ne jet. nejse pretty neat i like it tma blej dikush thanks
May 16, 2024
Well written and good ratio of storytelling and providing data (with evidence). If you want to know more about your body and its unique functions definitely worth reading. It was also an easy read.
March 22, 2017
This book surprised me. I'm not sure what I was expecting....maybe a question/answer format or a section focusing on different parts of our bodies and their functions. Not so. Not really at all. What I got was more of a social commentary through a health/healthcare lens. Hamblin explains this in the epilogue that the "stories, are in most cases less straightforward as answers than might seem ideal." I didn't expect to be reading about transgender health care, poverty and the Watts riots in South Central. Also gender roles and the ethics of how to dispose of our bodies when we die. It did make his answers far more interesting though.
Hamblin went through medical school and started a residency only to discover that he had more questions seemingly, than answers. So naturally he ended up becoming a journalist, instead of a doctor.
He poses questions such as, "Why don't tattoos wear off?" or "Can I get a more defined jaw by chewing gum?" He often uses stories to answer his questions and the answers range from a few sentences to a few pages and are often hilarious, in a snarky way. He also addresses certain myths and conundrums in health that we've just come to accept such as carrots giving us better eyesight, sports drinks actually balancing our bodies electrolytes, individual bags of flavored oatmeal being healthy and why the word 'moist' can trigger visceral reactions in many people!
I did get a sense that he's quite skeptical of naturopathic or 'alternative' medicine, gluten 'sensitivity' (the quotes are his) and the vitamin/supplement industry. I could understand that as a classically trained medical physician but then his discussion of our gut microbiome and how it's so adversely affected by our overuse (and downright abuse) of antibiotics in ourselves and in the food we consume that I understood he's simply trying to find answers the same way that we are. He's just trying to frame them in a way that will challenge our ingrained notions on what is and isn't healthy. Thank goodness for journalists. Although it wasn't what I was expecting, (I guess) it was enlightening and enjoyable.
And at least now I know that if I lose a contact lens in my eye, it won't get into my brain!
Hamblin went through medical school and started a residency only to discover that he had more questions seemingly, than answers. So naturally he ended up becoming a journalist, instead of a doctor.
He poses questions such as, "Why don't tattoos wear off?" or "Can I get a more defined jaw by chewing gum?" He often uses stories to answer his questions and the answers range from a few sentences to a few pages and are often hilarious, in a snarky way. He also addresses certain myths and conundrums in health that we've just come to accept such as carrots giving us better eyesight, sports drinks actually balancing our bodies electrolytes, individual bags of flavored oatmeal being healthy and why the word 'moist' can trigger visceral reactions in many people!
I did get a sense that he's quite skeptical of naturopathic or 'alternative' medicine, gluten 'sensitivity' (the quotes are his) and the vitamin/supplement industry. I could understand that as a classically trained medical physician but then his discussion of our gut microbiome and how it's so adversely affected by our overuse (and downright abuse) of antibiotics in ourselves and in the food we consume that I understood he's simply trying to find answers the same way that we are. He's just trying to frame them in a way that will challenge our ingrained notions on what is and isn't healthy. Thank goodness for journalists. Although it wasn't what I was expecting, (I guess) it was enlightening and enjoyable.
And at least now I know that if I lose a contact lens in my eye, it won't get into my brain!
September 6, 2017
It took me ages to read this book, but that's not because I wasn't into it - it just sort of lends itself to being picked up and put down by virtue of its layout. I loved all the little snippets of information and the humour in Hamblin's writing, but also that this book about facts behind human anatomy and function also included the political. Here are two of my favourite quotes from the book, the first about how tobacco companies are evil, and the second on how female sexual health deserves more study and respect.
"The classic example of purposeful ignorance is that created by the tobacco industry. Ever since tobacco was clearly proven to cause lung cancer in the 1960's, the industry has attempted to cultivate doubt in science itself. It cannot refute the facts of cigarettes, so it turned the public opinion against knowledge. Can anything really be known? The strategy was brilliant. Proctor calls out 'alternative causation,' or simply, 'experts disagree.' Tobacco companies didn't have to disprove the fact that smoking causes cancer; all they had to do was imply that there are 'experts' on 'both sides' of a 'debate' on the subject. And then righteously say that everyone is entitled to their belief. The tactic was so effective that it bought the industry decades to profit while reasonable people were uncertain if cigarettes caused cancer."
"...Pfizer publically abandoned the idea of marketing Viagra to women in 2004 because, as the New York Times put it, women 'are a lot more complicated than men.' Filling their organs with blood does not solve the problem of low libido, which is much more common than it is in men. This problem is much more complex than a simple lack of blood flow, and to overlook its causes in favor of simply diverting blood to the genitals would be dangerous. To that end, the truest 'female Viagra' is cultural prioritization of female sexual health, and that won't come in a pill.
"The classic example of purposeful ignorance is that created by the tobacco industry. Ever since tobacco was clearly proven to cause lung cancer in the 1960's, the industry has attempted to cultivate doubt in science itself. It cannot refute the facts of cigarettes, so it turned the public opinion against knowledge. Can anything really be known? The strategy was brilliant. Proctor calls out 'alternative causation,' or simply, 'experts disagree.' Tobacco companies didn't have to disprove the fact that smoking causes cancer; all they had to do was imply that there are 'experts' on 'both sides' of a 'debate' on the subject. And then righteously say that everyone is entitled to their belief. The tactic was so effective that it bought the industry decades to profit while reasonable people were uncertain if cigarettes caused cancer."
"...Pfizer publically abandoned the idea of marketing Viagra to women in 2004 because, as the New York Times put it, women 'are a lot more complicated than men.' Filling their organs with blood does not solve the problem of low libido, which is much more common than it is in men. This problem is much more complex than a simple lack of blood flow, and to overlook its causes in favor of simply diverting blood to the genitals would be dangerous. To that end, the truest 'female Viagra' is cultural prioritization of female sexual health, and that won't come in a pill.
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