Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

I just finished this book. Out of ten, I'd rate it a nine. Aside from a few syntax issues, whereby some common American phrasings are slightly rearranged yet still intelligible, there's very little I can find wrong with this book.The information is solid, researched focused, and is based on staying within the realm of what is certain, while staying keen on underscoring the speculative. Dettmer deploys the narrative style of explanation, which is conducive to a coherent communication of a big picture for a topic that is unfortunately riddled with canyon-sized rabbit holes. If you struggle to direct your attention while reading, either because of a loss of pace or an excess of dry reading, you are especially catered to here. Delightful and appropriate instances of humor decorate sincere moments of education. Further, Dettmer successfully utilizes the educational form of explaining the very basics first to later elucidate topics that are relatable in common life, rather than diving head first into the complexities from the get go. As Dettmer cautiously mentions, this book doesn't scratch the surface, but upon its completion you'll know much more than the average person.I saw a couple reviews here that criticize his tendency to anthropomorphize while at once warning against the uncritical acceptance of the same idea. Another criticism brought up regards a discussion of stress and implies that the author encourages readers to dig themselves into holes whenever stress appears. I believe these criticisms are unfounded. Even at the undergraduate level, analogy, metaphor- yes even by anthropomorphizing, and anecdote are all didactic tools used to explain to the very novice the beginnings of a topic. As students learn, the simplifications and subtle lies are dispelled and the ugly truth is slowly revealed. Often, beginners can't handle the whole truth all at once and that should be clear here, as its constantly implied by the author. The book is not intended for advanced study, and that's obvious. If you buy this book thinking that your experience in immunology will be tantamount to that of an immunologist, you are wrong. If you buy this book expecting a university-style series of lectures whereby all the casual oversimplifications are disposed of, you are wrong. If you buy this book expecting anything other than a cursory glance at a complex topic, you are sorely mistaken. Criticisms against these discrepancies don't honestly and earnestly represent the intentions of the author or the content of the book. In addition, no- Dettmer does not suggest that the best remedy to stress is to hide in a hole, and the suggestion that you can simply adapt your immune system to cope with stress is a misunderstanding of the very content upon which the criticism was made. Instead, a notion is put forward that by maintaining a healthy and low-stress lifestyle, your immune system receives all the support it needs rather than depending on fraudulent supplementation. There's no suggestion that the reader should evade stress entirely and the claim that there is lacks veracity.Lastly, any criticisms against this book for its marked 'political' influences are rooted in their own biases from the get go. Upon reading the book, you'll pleasantly find that there is not a single mention of American or any politics, given that the author is German and trying to tell you about cells. One reviewer notes an apparent 99.9% survival rate of COVID19 as evidence for criticism against the statement by the author that SARS-CoV2 is deadly. This 99.9% supposed survival rate in turn indicates a 0.1% mortality rate. Out of the now 568,773,510 cumulative cases, that's a little over half a million cumulative deaths, more than both SARS1 2003 outbreak and MERS outbreak combined, two much more lethal viruses. Not only this, but the real life (and based on actual data) number of deaths due to COVID-19 is in the ball park of more than six million people in about three years. An average of two million people a year. I think it's safe to say that the virus is deadly and such criticism against the statement is untenable. Besides, why wouldn't you want to learn how your body protects itself from such a pathogen?

Philipp Dettmer has an extraordinary way of explaining something as complicated as the immune system in the most engaging, amusing, and accessible manner. As a scientist, I was familiar with most of the immunological terms and mechanisms while reading this book, but it still provided great insight and understanding of the immune system and was highly entertaining! This book should be read by all. It will most definitely give you a greater appreciation for science and the human body, especially in what it means and what it takes to keep you alive every day.

Immune does what it promises on the cover: it takes you through a fairly high-level tour of how your immune system is composed. It's high-level by necessity. If you look around, there are literal tomes about the immune system because there's just so many things going on at once and things we don't know.In Immune, you'll learn about everything from macrophages to the thymus. You'll learn interesting things like how infected cells release cytokines, and while these are what lead to inflammation, these are also part of an incredible cascade that activates other parts of your immune system. (If cytokines freak you out, wait until you learn about what neutrophils can do.)You'll also learn some surprising things. For example, there's no real way to "boost" your immune system, and you wouldn't want to even if you could! As it turns out, our immune systems can be pretty aggressive, and for the most part the balance between activation and deactivation can be a delicate thing. Your immune system, if over-activated, can actually hurt you...which makes sense if you think about allergies and autoimmune disorders.If you want a "boosted" immune system, the best thing you can do is eat an at least OK diet, exercise, and manage your stress.Another thing that struck me is how a lot of the immune system feels random. Yes, there are receptors, proteins, etc that different cells react to, but considering how small they are compared to us, it almost feels lucky that these different cells can meet at all. Of course, your heart pumps your blood around, so that helps, but it's just striking how something so effective can have no sentience or sapience.The chapter on how vaccines work was very informative. The entire book is informative and wonderful to read (minus the author's tendency to use "in a nutshell" everywhere). This isn't one of those stuffy books where you feel like you're reading a college textbook. You'll learn about the immune system through various metaphors, such as battlegrounds and hotdog buns.A fantastic book. Worth every penny and minute spent on it.