Cardiovascular drgus. volume two: β-adrenoceptor blocking drugs

Book

reviews

Cardiovascular pertensive

Drugs. volume Lipid Lowering

and

Avery, Baltimore, Price $24.50.

1978,

one: Antiarrhythmic, AntihvDrugs. Edited by Graeme S.

University

Park

Press,

176 pages.

This volume on antiarrhythmic, antihypertensive, and lipid lowering drugs summarizes the clinical pharmacology of important cardiovascular drugs for undergraduate students and postgraduate students and for practicing physicians as well. The contributors are numerous. There is a chapter on digitalis glycosides; this chapter is extremely important when it is indicated that “digitalis intoxication is one of the most common adverse drug reactions, and potentially one of the most lethal.” This is a pathetic medical commentary. It certainly is not the fault of digitalis glycosides but the type selected and, most of all, its improper use. The mortality rate is stated to be between 7 and 50% among patients intoxicated with digitalis. Twenty-three % of patients receiving digitalis are definitely intoxicated, and 6% more are possibly intoxicated. This reflects poor training in the use of digitalis. Thus, does digitalis help or injure more patients? The book contains a highly selected and inadequate bibliography. Nevertheless, this book, volume One of this series on cardiovascular drugs, is worth studying even though the clinical use of digitalis is inadequately presented. This is primarily a publication on clinical pharmacology rather than on therapeutics. Cardiovascular Drugs. Edited

sity

Park This

Drugs.

book,

volume

Books

two:

/3-adrenoceptor

Modern

Medical

Lung:

Two

of

By 1978, Indiana

Mistakes.

Ind.,

Structure,

Function

William M. Thurlbeck and Murray The Williams & Wilkins Company, No More

Butts.

1977, Indiana

American

the

series

on

Blocking

1978, Univercardiovascular

lschemic

Heart

Disease.

The

Strategy

of

Postponement.

Edited by A. Tybjaerg Hanse, M.D., Peter Schnohr, M.D., and Geoffrey Rose, M.D., Chicago, 1977, An FADL’s Forlag publication; Distributed by Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc., 272 pages. Price $14.95. This book is primarily concerned with the epidemiology and risk factors in ischemic heart disease. The symposium was supported by the Danish Heart Foundation to inform the public of the risk factors in ischemic heart disease. The book will interest physicians, social workers, nurses, and public health workers and public health officers. The usual risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, physical exercise, diet, and psychological factom are discussed. The illustrations are clear and simple. The ideas and illustrations should be useful for public forums, lay press, and even for medical and hospital lectures. This is an interesting and useful publication. It contains little new.

received

Bloomington, Price $10.95. The

volume

by Graeme S. Avery, Baltimore, Press, 176 pages. Price $29.50.

drugs, is concerned with a thorough summary of the clinical pharmacology of b-adrenoceptor blocking drugs. The properties of these drugs are nicely summarized in the first and second chaptem. The next four chapters are concerned with their use in the treatment of hypertension, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias, and hyperthyroidism. Adverse reactions, and autoimmune phenomena are discussed in the other three chapters. This is a good book on an imp,ortant group of drugs aheady proven to be valuable in therapeutics. Students, house staff, and practicing physicians will find this book to be worth owning for study and reference.

Edward University

Disease. Edited by R. Abell, Baltimore, 1978, 332 pages. Price $34.00.

and

By Richard W. Olshavsky, University Press, 181 pages.

Heart

Journal

C. Lambert, M.D., Press, 190 pages.

Bloomington, Price $10.00.

ISAM 1977: Proceedings Symposium on Ambulatory

of the Second International Monitoring. Edited by F.

Stott, E. B. Raftery, P. Sleight, and L. Goulding, New York, San Francisco, 1978, Academic Press, pages.

D. London, Inc., 331

Ind.,

543