Intolerant Bodies: A Short History of Autoimmunity by Warwick Anderson and Ian R Mackay

JUDGES' COMMENTS

In Intolerant Bodies, Warwick Anderson and Ian Mackay trace the development of the concept of autoimmunity in twentieth-century medicine — and in reaches of modern thought outside medical science. For, as Anderson and Mackay observe, and as the people they write about realised, the idea of a person’s body turning against itself raises philosophical questions as well as medical ones. The authors describe the conceptual knots that physicians tied themselves up in trying to make sense of autoimmune diseases. They also show how the acceptance of the phenomenon by the medical community led to a reorganisation of the treatment of some of the more common autoimmune conditions.

Anderson and Mackay’s ‘biography’ of autoimmunity shows how this condition only emerged in the twentieth century with the great expansion of biomedical knowledge. Intolerant Bodies discusses the beginnings, growth and characteristics of autoimmune disease diagnoses and treatment through a focus on multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Anderson and Mackay connect research, social theory, and individual patients’ experiences, which they explore in illuminating case studies. The book is full of insights, and explains complex medical research clearly and engagingly.

Warwick Anderson, a medical doctor turned historian, and Ian Mackay, an immunologist, have written a brilliant and original book. The authors follow the puzzle of autoimmunity from theory to laboratory practice to individual patients’ case histories. The result is a compelling study of concepts in action. This sophisticated but highly readable history helps close the gap between medical science and the general public’s understanding.