Autoimmune and chronic illnesses are a global crisis, with an estimated 50 million sufferers in the US alone. In our world of modern medicine that has been able to drastically reduce both disability and mortality for so many diseases—from heart disease, stroke, HIV, and even cancer—what is fueling this seemingly unstoppable twenty-first century pandemic?
In this eye-opening, provocative book, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, singer/songwriter Dana Parish, take on the medical establishment. Backed by a trove of published data, Chronic reveals striking evidence that a broad range of microbes cause a variety of recurrent conditions and autoimmune diseases. Chronic delves into the history and science behind common infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat, debunks widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, reveals how medicine got the facts patently wrong, and provides solutions that empower readers to get their lives back.
Dr. Phillips was already an internationally renowned physician specializing in complex, chronic diseases when he became a patient himself. After nearly dying from his own mystery illness, he experienced firsthand the medical community’s ignorance about the pathogens that underlie a range of chronic conditions—from fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis to depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders. And through his tireless investigation, he was ultimately able to put together the clues and save himself when his doctors couldn’t. Parish, too, watched her health spiral after twelve top doctors missed an underlying infection that caused heart failure and other sudden, debilitating physical and psychiatric symptoms. Ultimately, she was successfully treated by Dr. Phillips. Now, they’ve come together with a mission: to change the current model of simply treating symptoms, often with dangerous, lifelong drugs, and shift the focus to finding and curing root causes of chronic diseases that affect millions around the world.