THE BEST GUIDE TO ALLERGY

A short, well-organized, uncomplicated round-up of information and advice for sufferers from the common allergies to animals, food, and the like. After a rocky start (""Allergy is an abnormal immune response to substances that do not elicit such adverse reactions in normal individuals""), the question-and-answer format and the language convey--directly and simply--just what happens when you contact that dog hair or cat fur. Next, hay fever, asthma, skin allergies, food allergies, and insect allergies (not just to bees, but also to house-dust mites, fleas, and cockroaches) are all succinctly covered. New approaches are weighed, not ignored or dismissed (acupuncture for treating asthma can work, urine injections are quackery and dangerous); medications are discussed by brand name; and sensitive topics are included without embarrassment (e.g., sex-and-asthmatics). Along with the practical advice (eczema sufferers, for example, should never put Vaseline on lesions, as it blocks the air needed to dry them), there are some truly unusual bits of news: on a visit to China, Richard Nixon & Co. contracted poison oak from newly-lacquered toilet seats. Not as wide-ranging as the Theron Randolph-Ralph Moss Alternative Apprpach to Allergies (1980), but a solid overview with some extras.