Blind Spots

From Johns Hopkins medical expert Dr. Marty Makary, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Price We Pay-an eye-opening expose of the conventional medical "wisdom" that has led the public to harm, and how we can correct this. One in thirteen children in the United States today has a peanut allergy. Why? In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a strict recommendation that parents avoid giving their children peanut products until they're three years old. Thinking peanut avoidance would prevent peanut allergies but getting the science perfectly backward, triggering intolerance with lack of early exposure, the US now leads the world in peanut allergies per capita-and this misinformation is still rearing its head in our pediatric science and parenting alike. When modern medicine issues recommendations based on good scientific studies, it shines. Conversely, when modern medicine is interpreted through the harsh lens of opinion and edict, it can mold dogmas and popular beliefs that harm patients and stunt research for decades. In Blind Spots, the renowned doctor explores how some of the biggest public health recommendations of modern medicine have been quietly reversed, some without the public knowing. Including insight into the cholesterol in eggs, estrogen recommendations for menopausal women, the role of the microbiome, and the overuse of antibiotics, the backstories to these popular beliefs can be absurd, entertaining, and jaw-dropping-but the truth is essential to our health.