The Elusive Body - by Alexandra Sifferlin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A compelling, necessary, and timely investigation into the diagnosis crisis in the American healthcare system, from the patients living with undiagnosed illnesses, to the doctors searching for answers, and what their quests reveal about our flawed medical system

Millions of Americans live with conditions that elude diagnosis, often navigating a healthcare system that fails to recognize or effectively address their suffering. Journalist Alexandra Sifferlin has spent years investigating the diagnosis crisis in America--what it means to live without an accurate diagnosis and how both medical and patient communities are working to improve the diagnostic process. The National Institutes of Health's Undiagnosed Diseases Network, a series of clinics of last resort where physicians and researchers work tirelessly to solve some of medicine's most confounding cases, is at the forefront of change, showing what's possible when healthcare providers and scientists are freed from the bureaucracy of a system beholden to insurance companies, and encouraged to work together with the aim of solving some of medicine's most perplexing mysteries.

A correct diagnosis is more than a label; it's a lifeline that opens doors to treatment options, financial support, and an understanding community. Weaving the profound, maddening, and uplifting stories of patients seeking answers to unexplainable symptoms, the doctors trying to help them, and the latest research on diagnosis, The Elusive Body illuminates the diagnostic journey, revealing why diagnoses matter and how they have the power to transform lives, the medical system, and even society, one case at a time.

Review Quotes

"The Elusive Body gives us a series of medical detective stories, each both painful and intriguing. It also examines the forces within the American medical system that make such stories painful, that all too often impede timely and accurate diagnoses. I found Ms. Sifferlin's book entertaining, enlightening, and in addition timely--a book mindful of science in this era when crackpot notions about public health and medicine are routinely issued from on high."
--Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains

"Diagnosis, the crux of medicine, is all too often mistaken, uncertain, or not possible. In The Elusive Body, Sifferlin, masterfully illuminates the reasons for these failures, with their profound adverse health implications, and how we can markedly improve in the future."
--Eric Topol, MD, author of Super Agers, Professor and EVP, Scripps Research

"Medical diagnosis, like science itself, is not a factual report but a human process, demanding keen observation, percipience, and imagination. And the stakes can be mortal. Alexandra Sifferlin's small, calm book on this large, crucial subject is full of mystery and illumination."
--David Quammen, New York Times bestselling author of Spillover

"Diagnostic errors harm millions of patients each year yet remain medicine's most intractable problem. Sifferlin cuts through the complexity to show us why we get diagnoses wrong, why that matters, and--most importantly--how we can do better. The Elusive Body is a vital contribution."
--Robert Wachter, MD, chair, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and New York Times bestselling author of The Digital Doctor and A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future

About the Author