“This book shines an alarming light on emerging infections that cause chronic illnesses. Brimming with bulletproof science, Chronic is an insightful, clarion call for more attention to this plague of the 21st century.”
– Sanjay Gupta, MD, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
More than 50 million Americans (and growing) are suffering in silence from a plague that’s hidden in plain sight—a 21st century pandemic of autoimmune and chronic illness that will only continue to increase without a paradigm shift.
Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ May 12, 2020) is an eye-opening tour de force that exposes the autoimmune crisis that is ravaging America and beyond. By looking at the field of autoimmunity with new eyes, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, Sony/ATV singer-songwriter Dana Parish, take on the medical establishment and examine the diseases that are disabling and killing people around the world.
Backed by a trove of published data, Chronic reveals striking evidence that a broad range of microbes, including the Lyme bacteria, cause a variety of recurrent conditions and autoimmune diseases—from fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, to depression, anxiety, and even Alzheimer’s. Most patients with these diseases are relegated to taking dangerous, expensive, long-term drugs that only (and often, poorly) manage symptoms. Chronic shows how the medical community has gotten things fatally wrong by ignoring blatant evidence of these chronic infections. Instead, in a scandal akin to Big Tobacco, we’ve become an immune-suppressed society, at risk for opportunistic infections and cancers, while Big Pharma makes billions. By synthesizing the science and research from the world’s top medical literature and experts, Chronic exposes the truth and outlines how the medical community has failed patients around the world.
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 deep spectrum of chronic conditions. 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. Now, they’ve come together with a mission: to change the current model of simply treating symptoms and shift the focus to finding and curing root causes of these chronic diseases. By delving into the history and science behind common infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat, and debunking widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, Chronic shows how the medical community got it wrong and provides solutions that can empower readers to get their lives back.
Steven Phillips, M.D., is a world-renowned, Yale-trained physician, researcher, and international lecturer. A media go-to expert, he specializes in the management of complex vector-borne infections. He’s in private practice in Wilton, Connecticut.
Dana Parish is an award-winning Sony/ATV singer-songwriter who has collaborated with Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, and Nick Jonas. She has become a powerful voice for change in the field of Lyme disease. She lives in New York City.
Advance Praise for CHRONIC
“Brimming with bulletproof science, fascinating historical notes, and engrossing case studies, Chronic shines an alarming light on emerging modern infections that leave people suffering from chronic illnesses. Insightful and informative, this book offers hope and is a clarion call for more attention to this area of medicine.”
– Sanjay Gupta, MD, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
“This trailblazing book should serve to galvanize efforts to solve the autoimmune crisis in the same way And the Band Played On did for HIV.”
– George Church, PhD, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology
“History will reflect back upon this book as a revelation for millions living with chronic illness. It’s a fascinating, superbly researched dive into the mysteries of autoimmune diseases and provides critical insights to patients and cliniciansIt is bold, iconoclastic, and addresses one of the most important and challenging problems facing modern medicine with compassion, love, and hope.”
– Ying Zhang MD, PhD, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University
“A powerfully informative guide for patient and practitioner from a misinformed past towards a future of recovery and health.”
– David Perlmutter, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grain Brain and Brain Wash
“A clarion call to start reversing the enormous human cost of autoimmune and chronic disease by finally addressing actual root causes.”
– Michael VanElzakker, PhD, neuroscientist, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
“Speaking truth to power is hard. Speaking truth to established medical and scientific institutions is nearly impossible…and extraordinarily rare. But this book does exactly that. It is an act of bravery in its purest form, and it’s for all of us, as none of us are immune.”
– Kristen T. Honey, Ph.D. PMP, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, Policy Advisor (2015 – 2017); Senior Research Scholar, Stanford University
“Phillips and Parish take us on a personal, illuminating journey of scientific discovery. Their brilliant work could not have come at a more urgent time. Chronic is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, but perhaps most of all, it’s intellectually and emotionally honest. A must-read for everyone, but even more so for physicians of all specialties.”
– Haideh Hirmand, MD, MPA, FACS, Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Weill-Cornell Medical College
“With fascinating case studies and the latest science, Chronic offers hope for achieving a better future for the millions suffering with complex and severe symptoms.”
– Terry Wahls, M.D., author of The Wahls Protocol
“Phillips and Parish show us where and how the medical paradigm for chronic illness has failed us all and exposes the truth. It’s a modern day version of The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
– Holly Ahern, Associate professor of microbiology, SUNY
