“Fascinating.…[Ravella’s writing] breathes life into biological functions.” —Grace Wade, New ScientistA riveting investigation of inflammation—the hidden force at the heart of modern disease—and how we can prevent, treat, or even reverse it.Inflammation is the body’s ancestral response to its greatest threats, the first line of defense it deploys against injury and foreign pathogens. But as the threats we face have evolved, new science is uncovering how inflammation may also turn against us, simmering underneath the surface of leading killers from heart disease and cancer to depression, aging, and mysterious autoimmune conditions.In A Silent Fire, gastroenterologist Shilpa Ravella investigates hidden inflammation’s emerging role as a common root of modern disease—and how we can control it. We meet the visionary nineteenth-century pathologist who laid the foundation for our modern understanding of inflammation, the eccentric Russian zoologist who discovered one of the cells central to our immune system, and the dedicated researchers advancing the frontiers of medical and nutritional science today. With fascinating case studies, Ravella reveals how we can reform our relationships with food and our microbiomes to benefit our own health and the planet’s.Synthesizing medical history, cutting-edge research, and innovative clinical practice, Ravella unveils inflammation as one potential basis for a unifying theory of disease. A paradigm-shifting understanding of one of the most mysterious, buzzed-about topics in medicine and nutrition, A Silent Fire shows us how to live not only long but well.

A Harvard internist blends Eastern practices with cutting-edge Western medicine for a transformative approach to lasting health.Over her decades-long career, Dr. Eva Selhub has seen how much we can influence our own health, happiness, and vitality through the affirmative choices we make, regardless of the genetic or environmental setbacks we face. When our bodies get sick, we often feel helpless, hoping for tests and medications to come to the rescue. But as Dr. Selhub shows in Your Health Destiny, we do have control over our wellbeing. It all stems from how we choose to view ourselves, our resources, and our circumstances.Dr. Selhub draws on the emerging field of epigenetics to reveal how we can bolster the mind-body connection and actually change the way our DNA operates. She teaches us how to listen to signals from our bodies, and how to respond with choices that yield immediate and long-term benefits. From preventing disease to reversing its progression, Dr. Selhub reveals how to harnes the power we have over our own health.