An alternative health treatment killed Hannah’s cousin. Now she’s on a mission to warn others

Hannah McElhinney Patricia Casten/Simon & Schuster Wormhole begins quickly.

Hannah McElhinney’s cousin, who has travelled to Malaysia for a medical treatment, has sepsis.

She’s in a coma.

One page later, she’s dead.

The pacing of the book’s opening matches the quick, often uncertain feeling of experiencing a medical emergency with a loved one.

Review: Wormhole: My journey into the dark heart of alternative medicine by Hannah McElhinney (Affirm Press) Then the book rewinds, revealing McElhinney’s relationship with her cousin Lauren.

Diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) around 16 and fibromyalgia a year or so later, Lauren became convinced, in her early 30s, she was suffering from chronic Lyme Disease.

The disease’s existence is hotly contested in Australia , despite many people reporting symptoms. (Local ticks do not carry the bacterium responsible for it.) Lauren, like many others in her situation, struggled to find the support she needed from traditional medical systems in Australia.

The trip to Malaysia was not her first dip in the alternative medicine and wellness pool.

Over a single Christmas lunch, she had told McElhinney about poo transplants, fermented foods and coffee enemas.

She also tried drinking bleach , among other things.

While McElhinney unpacks her cousin’s journey after her death, she discovers communities online that have formed around trying to find answers for their Lyme Disease symptoms.

Looking for answers McElhinney initially finds comfort in looking for answers.

She takes the reader with her as she tries to understand how Lauren was suffering.