Comprehensive in scope ... Inflammation, they argue, is a sign that the body is trying to heal itself—not so much that it is under attack but that it is ailing from within. While they indulge in this metaphor perhaps a bit too much, they aren’t comparing contemporary life to, say, cancer. Rather, they’re asserting that capitalism forces people to live in a way that causes higher rates of illnesses like cancer—and that alternatives have always existed ... Puerto Rico provides Marya and Patel with particularly rich material for consideration, because the material damage of colonial capitalism can be found everywhere ... A new model is clearly in order. But when it comes to discussing how to create one, Inflamed is short on specifics. No book can be all things, and this one is ultimately a work of diagnosis more than one of prescription. At once empathetic and skeptical of power, it is bold and searching in its examination of the ways in which the human body has exhibited the consequences of a specific economic and political system. Yet Marya and Patel might have reserved more space to consider the kinds of political solutions that will be needed to abolish such a system.
... impeccably researched ... a subversive political analysis ... Inflamed is sometimes circuitous but remarkably lucid. And yet there is an unassailable sense that, like the sickened body systems they describe, the authors are rightly inflamed too ... Ultimately, the title makes clear that our current practice of medicine, one that was largely developed in tandem with colonialism, can and will be improved by considering the human experience as a whole, reconnecting to our histories and communities, 'uncovering a path to a future where health in its broadest terms might be possible'.
... [a] well-written, compelling book ... Particularly moving chapters highlight health care inequality in the United States that particularly affects Black Americans and Indigenous peoples; examples include racial disparities in COVID-19 infection and recovery rates ... An excellent book for anyone concerned with health, community, or the environment. The accessible writing will draw readers in.
As they explore the many aspects of inflammation, Marya and Patel use the body as a useful analogy, given its immune, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, reproductive, endocrine, and nervous systems ... This is a powerful, knowledgeable, and important work about the dangerous connection between health and societal injustices and how it can be resolved.
... [a] thought-provoking treatise ... Though highly technical at times, this is a persuasive argument for the need to address the systemic problems that plague people’s minds and bodies.
A passionate exploration of world poverty, racism, injustice, and colonialism that draws a parallel to inflammation ... The authors...are rigorous scientists, so readers will learn a great deal as they describe human biological systems, focusing on the damage inflicted by inflammation but casting a wide thematic net ... The obligatory how-to-fix-it conclusion will leave some readers scratching their heads ... but the authors are persuasive in most of their arguments about the deleterious physical and mental effects of capitalism and colonialism. A valiant effort to link medicine and injustice: thought-provoking, knowledgeable, and ripe for debate and further study.
