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…
