Inflamed: Deep Medicine & the Anatomy of Injustice A Conversation with the Academics, Authors, and Activists Drs. Rupa Marya and Raj Patel

The Covid pandemic has starkly demonstrated the reality that those individuals experiencing poverty and social inequality get sick and die at higher rates than the general population. This is also true with other illnesses. Inflammation is the body’s response to infectious agents and environmental toxins but also to chronic stress and suffering inflicted by things like poverty and structural racism. It is not hyperbolic to say at this juncture that we are an ‘inflamed’ society and planet, and radical change is needed.   “Most patients you sit with long enough will tell you why they are sick,” says Marya. However, for doctors to truly identify and treat the underlying causes of ill health, the authors argue that we must start by understanding how systemic racism, inequality, and environmental degradation all contribute to a type of persistent, harmful inflammation leading to an illness of not just the body but also of our political, economic, and health care systems. As doctors and advocates, these two disruptors have both been in the trenches, the streets, the villages, and worked in some of the most prestigious academic and medical institutions in the world. Dr. Patel is a PhD, journalist, author, father, and academic, often referred to as "the rock star of social justice writing”. Dr. Marya, when not working as an internal medicine specialist at UCSF, is an activist as well as a mother, composer, singer, and guitarist, fronting the global alternative group Rupa and the April Fishes, infusing her music with the same passion and urgency. It is this combination of activism, academia, medical experience, creativity and tireless spirit that has propelled our guests to demand radical change in our world view and approach to illness and medicine. They are daring us to not only listen to their analysis, but become a part of the change.  In this provocative and groundbreaking work, the pair endeavors to shift the traditional paradigm. Marya and Patel explain the unique tasks performed by each operating system of our amazing human bodies, head-to-toe and everything in between, tying each to its approximate counterpart in our healthcare system. Inflamed is not a work of naivete but one that delivers a message of precarious hope, offering a clear diagnosis and treatment plan but with a truly uncertain prognosis. Join Paul for a lively discussion of the book, their life’s work and the revolutionary path they are proposing to humanize medical care for all.