Gasping Out of Life-Breath:

Gasping Out of Life-Breath is a millennial journey in search of understanding the roots of asthma. It is also a race to develop effective strategies to combat it. At times, that race becomes personal and intimate as several asthma researchers over the centuries were themselves asthmatic and often spoke eloquently of their own battle with the disease. Some have even succumbed to it. Some passages of this book are read like a novel, while others are more like a documentary of ancient history; yet others invite the reader to experience what the asthma sufferer and their loved ones and caretakers are going through as they battle the disease. The book documents in detail the voluminous work of numerous physicians and scientists who, centuries ago, have left us medical texts with specific treatment protocols, some being "spot on" in terms of their efficacy or at least symptoms relief potential. Whether one looks at the Ebers papyrus from the Egyptians or the Badianus manuscript from the Aztecs, one marvels at the ingeniosity with which the disease was approached. Professor Celestin highlights the exponential progress in our understanding made in the last one hundred years. Since the discovery of immunoglobulin E almost sixty years ago, together with the ability to measure minute concentrations of chemical substances such as cytokines, and the mastery of the technique to produce monoclonal antibodies, a new era in asthma understanding has dawned at breakneck speed. The author sets the goal to place the reader where it all happened and speaks clearly in a language that the non-medical individual, asthma sufferer or anyone interested in this disease can understand. This book is an homage to all who have suffered or succumbed to asthma and those who have dedicated their professional lives to understand it and find ways to treat it more effectively. Over the last five thousand years, we have gone from inhaling the smoke of burning henbane leaves; drinking strong coffee, rooibos, or ma Huang tea; to targeting and neutralizing specific molecules responsible for the asthmatic inflammation. This asthma journey through the centuries, which is ongoing, is full of surprises, discoveries, triumphs, and wonders that without doubt will be riveting to the serious reader.