BOOK REVIEW -- THE IMMUNE SYSTEM RECOVERY PLAN

Book Review by one of our CCA Yukon Support Group Members for January, 2015

“THE IMMUNE SYSTEM RECOVERY PLAN”

By

Susan Blum, M.D., M.P.H.

This book focuses on the most prevalent, of at least one hundred auto-immune diseases, from a 

general perspective. It also includes a short section outlining specifics on a few, including celiac 

disease. This general approach is based on the fact that all auto-immune diseases have a lot in 

The diseases covered include, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory 

bowel disease or colitis, diabetes, celiac disease, hypothyroidism and psoriasis. She describes 

“Auto-immune” and goes into some detail in lay terms, about the physiology of each of the 

diseases listed above and how they typically present.

Dr. Blum’s approach to diagnosis and treatment is referred to as “Functional Medicine”.  She 

says that “A functional medicine expert is like a medical detective gathering all the clues of your 

past (where you grew up, your family situation, traumatic events, health history, etc.) and 

present (potential toxins in your environment, social life, stress level, relationships, diet, 

workout regimen, sleep habits, symptoms, etc.). Armed with this information, a functional 

medicine expert tries to uncover how and why the body is not functioning well.”  She 

comments that many people with autoimmune conditions suffer with their symptoms because 

conventional doctors either can’t figure out what the problem is or what is causing it. And even 

where a diagnosis is made by a conventional doctor, the recommended treatment regime is 

often designed to treat the symptoms, but not necessarily the way to get at reversing the 

condition itself and bringing the immune system back into balance before irreversible damage 

The potential triggers to all auto-immune diseases from the author’s perspective, are:

 Our modern–day diets, particularly gluten

 Chronic stress and hormonal imbalance

 An imbalance of good bacteria in our guts

She recommends the following four (4) steps to healing and preventing auto-immune disease: 

 Understand the stress connection

 Heal your gut and digestive system

In each of the book sections based on the four steps outlined above, there are self-assessment 

tools for the reader to answer, analyze and based on the numerical result, determine what 

steps they should take to begin to alleviate their symptoms and reverse their disease. The first 

step in all sections is to modify one’s diet. Lists of food to avoid and those to use are provided, 

as are some recipes incorporating each of the recommended foods. For those with higher 

numbers in their self-assessments, Dr. Blum also recommends additional supports/treatment, 

specific to each of the four (4) sections.

The author also believes that even if an individual has bad genetics, this treatment regime can 

positively influence the immune system function and lower the risk of developing an auto-

immune disease. Dr. Blum makes effective use of real-life case histories, including her own, to 

demonstrate the positive impact of her prescribed treatment regime.

From my perspective, this book could provide assistance to those of us who have already been 

diagnosed with celiac disease, and are still experiencing difficulties in spite of eliminating gluten 

from our diets, or we just wish to eat healthier and prevent, in Dr. Blum’s view the 

development of further auto-immune diseases.