I read this book a couple of months ago and didn't recommend it because I was bothered by a couple of science errors, but I have since thought about it often, so I think it's worth recommending in spite of my original hesitation.Sanghavi is a pediatric cardiologist who has seen some stuff, and he talks about children's illnesses from the perspective of the doctors who treat them. He covers some of the same ground as Atul Gawande and even, surprisingly, Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi. But there is additional interesting material here. The section I have thought most about is one where he writes about the first case of child abuse he saw as a doctor.
Just to get it off my chest, here are the science errors that bugged me. 1) He says that the US swine flu vaccination program on 1976 caused an epidemic of Guillain-Barre cases. And while this is a common accusation, I've read a convincing account elsewhere (unfortunately I can't remember where) that this the association is spurious. 2) He refers to celiac disease as an allergy, when it is actually an intolerance - there is no histamine reaction in celiac disease.
A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body
Darshak Sanghavi
2003
Available from Amazon
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