Thriving With Your Autoimmune Disorder: A Woman's Mind-Body Guide

Rating:
Summary: Coherent, Complete and Helpful
Review: Dr. Simone Ravicz has done it again! In her second book,'Thriving with your Autoimmune Disorder: A Woman's Mind-Body Guide', she has managed to gather, distill and communicate in readable format an enormous body of information regarding autoimmune disorders. The book's importance and value, however, rest primarily in Dr. Ravicz's descriptive sections where specific autoimmune engendered problems are linked with specific coping strategies. The latter are concrete, applicable and useful. The book is important, unique at present and thoroughly helpful. Thank you, Dr. Ravicz!

Rating:
Summary: not very comprehensive
Review: I was excited to read this book but was very disappointed with the content. It only covered the "top" known auto-immune diseases and did not even mention the others that we suffer from. I am still trying to collect any info I can about mine....Takayasu's arteritis. I was so sad to see that it wasn't mentioned or anything close to it. Alot of the author's comments were the same in each chapter and quite repetitive without much insight.

Rating:
Summary: not very comprehensive
Review: I was excited to read this book but was very disappointed with the content. It only covered the "top" known auto-immune diseases and did not even mention the others that we suffer from. I am still trying to collect any info I can about mine....Takayasu's arteritis. I was so sad to see that it wasn't mentioned or anything close to it. Alot of the author's comments were the same in each chapter and quite repetitive without much insight.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for anyone concerned about chronic illness.
Review: In the Preface, Jay A. Goldstein, M.D. writes:

"Thriving with Your Autoimmune Disorder, by Dr. Simone Ravicz, is an excellent, well-written, comprehensive survey of a complex yet common phenomenon. It is the best book targeted to the educated layperson that I have read on this topic. I cannot cite a more sophisticated and comprehensive work by a nonphysician.

"I specialize in treating patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS); fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS); and related disorders, which I term "neurosomatic." Dr. Ravicz discusses diverse research, clinical experience, and opinion about such illnesses, fortunately omitting a vast body of useless research that has hindered advancement and would be of no use to the reader. I congratulate her on her review of the literature and her synthesis. Thriving with Your Autoimmune Disorder will be an informative guide for patients and their families.

"Many books on the subject belong in the junkpile. This one should be in your bookcase."

He's right. Borrow the book from your public library, or buy a copy at your local book retailer or favorite online book site. But read the book. If you or a loved one has a chronic illness, this is one book that must be read.

And - despite its emphasis on women - men will benefit from reading Dr. Ravicz's book also.

The author has divided her book into three main sections. In Part I she discusses Women and Autoimmune Disorders and Related Conditions, with special emphasis on stress and the immune system, reclaiming your healing energy, the Mind-Body connection and the power of the diagnosis.

Part II is a discussion of these specific autoimmune disorders: Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Sjogren's Syndrome, Graves' Disease and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Type I Diabetes, Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome.

Part III is the soul of the book: Coping Strategies. Dr. Ravicz has chapters on Mind-Body Techniques, Enhancing Your General Coping Skills, Working with Others, and Tools for the Journey.

This book is informative. Most importantly, it is empowering.

Rating:
Summary: At last an informative book for an autoimmune sufferer.
Review: This book has all the informations and questions that is written in a technical way and yet could be understood by everyone. Finally, a reference book that I can read and find answers at any time and know I'm not alone. Dr. Ravich fully understand what women go through daily. Obviously, the book was written because of her interest, full knowledge, and endless compassion for others. She's brilliant. Kudos! Kudos!

Rating:
Summary: Repetitive, Only 8 Diseases?, Stress/Psychological Bias
Review: While the author means well, she is a psychologist with expertise in post-traumatic stress syndrome, and according to her author bio, she conducts workshops on stress management in her practice. Her primary interest appears to be psychological health, and this interest seems evident, because it is through this lens that her approach to autoimmune diseases appears to be heavily filtered.

There is no question that mind-body and coping skills are important, even critical, parts of dealing with an autoimmune condition or any chronic disease for that matter. But most autoimmune disease patients have a physical, medical problem -- not a mental health issue. The book is, however, heavily biased toward stress as a key cause of autoimmune disease, and stress reduction and coping as the "treatments."

More than half of this book is dedicated to a somewhat repetitive coverage of exercises to reduce stress, ways to muster healing energy, coping skills, and other psychological, mental health, and counseling-based approaches.

With estimates ranging from 50 to 100 different diseases, it's also unclear why the author chose to cover only 8 autoimmune-related diseases, ignoring a number of important conditions, and overlooking entire categories of autoimmune disease wholesale. This leaves the book incomplete.

Under each disease, the author has inexplicably repeated entire sections verbatim as part of each chapter. For example, she provides a description of some reasons to avoid sugar, and then proceeds to "copy and paste" the same exact verbiage under each of the other disease sections. Numerous examples of this copy and paste approach are seen throughout the disease chapters, and are evidence of the need for extensive editing.

The author does not substantially address the many environmental factors that are thought to contribute to autoimmune disease, and provides little in the way of leading-edge information on traditional or alternative-medicine approaches to specific conditions, or autoimmune diseases as a whole.

Better choices would be the more topical, comprehensive and insightful treatment of autoimmune disease found in two more recent books, Mary Shomon's "Living Well with Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know," and Elaine Moore's "Autoimmune Diseases and Their Environmental Triggers."

Shomon and Moore cover mind-body and stress reduction information well, but go far beyond Ravicz' in their look at the environmental, nutritional and occupational reasons for autoimmune diseases, as well as traditional and alternative approaches for treatment of these diseases.

Rating:
Summary: The Essential Guide to Self Care
Review: Written by a psychologist and fibromyalgia patient, Thriving with Your Autoimmune Disorder offers a wealth of excellent tips for keeping autoimmune disease symptoms in line. While Ravicz discusses specific conventional treatment options for only a few of the most common autoimmune disorders, her focus is on the nutrient deficiencies and psychological changes that contribute to symptoms in most autoimmune disorders. Offering dietary tips as well as psychological counseling, Ravicz shows us that there is more to reducing symptoms in autoimmune disorders than prescriptions drugs.