Review by Choice Review
Stephen (Thomas Jefferson Univ.) provides a wide-ranging discussion of medicine and society through the lens of lung function and pathology. Chapters focus on connections between breathing and belief systems; fetal and neonatal development; lungs and the environment; and lung pathologies and their treatments. A large proportion and the best part of the text is devoted to the history of medicine, the development of patient care, and anecdotes from Dr. Stephen's training and work as a pulmonologist. The writing is personal, sensitive, and engaging. Unfortunately, the book is rife with errors, ranging from trivial (e.g., the 19th century as a 200-year period), to factual (e.g., CO2 decomposing to hydrogen), to absurd (e.g., a man who has lost his voice learning lip reading to compensate for it). Individually, none of these errors is damning, but there are dozens of them scattered through the book. Further unfortunate characteristics include numerous references to "the breath" and "life force," with an undertone of vitalism. Again, Stephen takes time to simplify science concepts to grade-school levels but fails to explain complex medical jargon. Breath Taking has the potential to be a wonderful book. Sadly, these errors and infelicities smother its potential. Summing Up: Not recommended. --Roger M. Denome, MCPHS University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
"Life and breath are synonymous," writes pulmonary physician Stephen, who contends that breathing is too often taken for granted. His educational and passionate book successfully unites the true importance of our lungs and advances in medical science. The numbers are impressive: An average adult takes 20,000 breaths per day. We inhale/exhale approximately 10,000 liters of air daily. Five hundred million alveoli (air sacs in the lungs) handle that gas exchange. Stephen highlights the healing ability of focused breathing to enhance mental health and reduce chronic pain, the threat of climate change and air pollution to our lungs, and how the "connectivity of our air" allows infections like COVID-19 and tuberculosis to spread. Types of lung diseases, voice and speech, and tobacco addiction are well-covered, with Stephen explaining that cigarette smoke contains not just nicotine but roughly 7,000 additional ingredients including arsenic, DDT, and cadmium. The physics of soap bubbles, Buddhism, and fish gills also receive attention. Best of all are Stephen's stories of courageous patients, including a girl with cystic fibrosis who receives a successful lung transplant, which just might take your breath away.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Stephen (pulmonology, Thomas Jefferson Univ.) draws attention to the lungs: one of our most neglected, yet most vital organs. Even the medical establishment ignores our lungs; lung cancer is responsible for more deaths each year than breast, pancreatic, and colon cancer combined but receives a far smaller proportion of research dollars. Stephen discusses the place of the breath in many religious traditions, the evolution of the lungs and our reliance on oxygen, and the physiology of respiration and gas exchange. He presents the history and course of lung transplantation, and of several pulmonary diseases including neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, and disorders caused by smoking, emphasizing that we all share our air. Moving chapters show how the actions of the few--smoking, polluting, refusing to wear masks during COVID-19--affect the many. He also discusses the importance of the breath in mindfulness and meditation, and in the production of speech. Throughout, Stephen emphasizes the role of science in improving humans' respiratory health. VERDICT Readers of Siddhartha Mukherjee and Atul Gawande will appreciate Stephen's writing. Blending science writing and medical reporting, this is a detailed, yet accessible account that will engage anyone concerned with their respiratory health.--Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Brains and hearts preoccupy science writers, so this rare exploration of lungs fills a need. Pulmonologist Stephen cannot conceal his enthusiasm for his favorite organ as he mixes evolution, medical history, autobiography, and vivid stories of patients with a skillful account of how lungs operate and how we might take better care of them. Latecomers on the evolutionary scene, lungs arrived well after hearts and brains, when fish began leaving the ocean about 400 million years ago. They have a dual purpose: "bringing oxygen in while keeping everything else out. The latter objective is almost impossible…since we take more than fifteen thousand breaths a day." Along with life-giving oxygen, we inhale waste from factories, vehicles, heating systems, stoves, farms, and construction sites; we also sometimes add toxins that make us feel good. Heart disease and cancer have been declining for decades in the U.S. "In 2008," writes the author, "respiratory diseases in the United States for the first time replaced stroke as the third-deadliest disease." Stephen's expert review of his field's diseases reveals that lung cancer remains by far the deadliest malignancy. Almost universal in the 19th century and nearly conquered in the 20th, tuberculosis is on the rise and resistant to most antibiotics. Allergies and asthma make up an ongoing epidemic while lung transplants, miraculous when they succeed, are still a work in progress. "The greatest medical story never told" may be that of cystic fibrosis: Before World War II, it was fatal in infancy, but a cure is on the horizon. CF, he writes, "brings together the three main themes of this book--the central importance of the lungs, the courage of patients afflicted by a devastating illness, and the importance of hard work, intelligent observation, and collaboration in the advancement of medical science." Stephen manages to include Covid-19 but mostly as a lesson in how it spreads; masks help. Regarding yoga, mindfulness, and breathing exercises, the author delivers unimpressive studies but inspiring anecdotes. Valuable popular science. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
