Moises Velasquez-Manoff on Autoimmune Disease, Parasites, and Complexity

EconTalk

• Episode: Moises Velasquez-Manoff on Autoimmune Disease, Parasites, and Complexity
• Website: EconTalk
• Feed URL: http://files.libertyfund.org/econtalk/EconTalk.xml
• Duration: 01:12:55
• Published: 2014-03-03 07:30

Moises Velasquez-Manoff, author of An Epidemic of Absence, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book--a discussion of why allergies and autoimmune diseases have been on the rise in the developed world for the last half-century. Velasquez-Manoff explores a recent hypothesis in the epidemiological literature theorizing the increase is a response to the overly hygienic environment in rich countries and the absence of various microbes and parasites. Velasquez-Manoff also considers whether reintroducing parasites into our bodies can have therapeutic effects, a possibility currently under examination through FDA trials. The conversation continues a theme of EconTalk--the challenge of understanding causation in a complex world.