The Immune Mind

<b>Dr Monty Lyman </b>is a doctor and research fellow at the University of Oxford. His first book <i>The Remarkable Life of the Skin</i> was shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize was a Radio 4 Book of the Week and a <i>Sunday Times</i> Book of the Year. He has given many talks at national conferences and has won several essay prizes including the 2020 Royal Society of Medicine pain essay prize. He lives in Oxford England. <p><b>Delving into the recent discovery of the brain's immune system Dr Monty Lyman reveals the extraordinary implications for our physical and mental health.</b><br><br>Since the birth of modern medicine we have fundamentally misunderstood our immune system. Although the brain and the body have always been treated as separate entities - in separate hospitals - the science now shows that they are intimately linked. Startlingly our body's immune system can access our brain and directly alter our mental health changing our mood and behaviour.<br><br>This has opened up a new frontier in human health. Drugs designed to treat arthritis have been found to treat certain kinds of depression. Incredibly brushing your teeth properly can reduce brain inflammation and thereby reduce the risk of dementia. And we are now beginning to understand how infections in childhood can lead to neurological and psychiatric disorders such as tics and OCD.<br><br>In <i>The Immune Mind</i> Dr Monty Lyman explores the fascinating connection between the mind and the immune system as well as the body's microbiome. A researcher in the cutting-edge field of immunopsychiatry Lyman argues we need to change the way we treat disease and the way we see ourselves. For the first time we have a new approach to medicine that treats the whole human being.</p> Dr Lyman takes the complicated <b>science of neuroimmunology</b> and turns it into an <b>exciting </b>wargame complete with defensive battalions special forces reconnaissance ships and friendly fire. While technical and <b>bang up-to-date</b> the narrative never loses sight of the potential victims and illnesses both physical and mental. Indeed <b><i>The Immune Mind </i>is not so much about biological science or cognitive science but the inseparability of the two and ultimately what it is to be human.</b>