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Current perspectives in immunodermatology
Book reviews •
II
Adverse reactions to foods John A. Anderson, M.D., and Dorothy D. Sogn, M.D., editors, American Academy of Allergy and Immunology Committee on Adverse Reactions to Foods and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Washington, DC, 1984, National Institutes of Health Publication No. 84-2442. 321 pages. $9.50. As someone who is basically a deep skeptic about food allergies, I chuckled when asked to read this monograph that is designated to serve two purposes: (1) a text of food allergies and (2) a document of needed further research. However, I was pleasantly surprised by.how well these goals were reached and commend this book to all dermatologists. No matter what your opinion--if you never would deem to ask about diets or try dietary ma,nipulation, or if you almost invariably change your patients' eating patterns--this very impartially edited book has something for you, My only interest in food allergy is simple. As a consultant, I see all too many cases of chronic urticaria and intractable pruritus. In both instances, dietary manipulation, especially diet records, and elimination diets occasionally seem helpful. The use of elimination diets is extensively discussed and many sample plans are given. Another valuable feature of the text is the almost endless number of references. Every subject is documented or overdocumented and both the serious articles and the odd ones are included. Citations are scattered throughout, but I estimate there are close to 1,000 sources given. Several very useful tables are included, such as a 10-page listing of food groups according to biologic relationship. For example, a peanut is far more closely related to beans and peas than nuts, so people with documented peanut intolerance should avoid other legumes. Another useful addition was a chapter on nonatlergic food intolerance, covering such things as plant toxins, hallucinogens, and food additives. Finally, there is an appendix over 100 pages in length covering in tabular form diseases transmitted by foods, including everything from worms to strontium 90.
148
II
Returning to the stated topic of food allergy, of special interest to dermatologists is the issue of prevention of atopy by dietary manipulation in pregnancy and early infancy. This controversial topic is examined in a balanced fashion. Other concepts that probably do not deserve balanced treatment still receive it. For example, autoinjection with sterile urine is condemned because the urine contains enough glomerular antigens to perhaps trigger an autoimmune glomerulonephritis. Other concepts with which I have always had trouble, such as hypoglycemia, Feingo!d diet, and enVironmental isolation centers, received kindly but nonetheless negative evaluations. In short, no matter how much you think you are disinterested in food allergies, I predict that as you read through this pamphlet you will become interested and get some ideas for patient care. It is a simple 321 pages, with big print, lots of tables, and huge appendices. You can read this easily in 1 or 2 hours and then file it as a valuable reference.
Walter H. C. Burgdorf, M.D., Albuquerque, NM Current perspectives in immunodermatology Rona M. MacKie, M.D., editor, New York, 1984, Churchill Livingstone Inc. 289 pages. $35. "The aim," Dr. Rona MacKie writes in the introduction, "is to provide for the dermatologist a useful and up-to-date review of current fruitful and collaborative investigations in the areas of dermatology in which immunological abnormalities are known or postulated to play a part." This multiauthored book of 289 pages meets this aim. Each chapter always reviews each relevant clinical disease in order to orient the nondermatologist to clinical aspects. Then, discussion of the histology and steps to a laboratory diagnosis precede discussions of pathobiology, prognosis, and treatment in most chapters. Since each chapter is written by a different author, the format is not exactly uniform; overall emphasis and orientation of each chapter are similar enough that the text seems unified. Dr. MacKie has assembled sixteen manuscript chapters written by well-recognized experts from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (actually four
Volume 12 Number 1, Part 1 January, 1985 continents now that Dr. Butler has moved back to Australia). Dr. Robert Jordon leads off with a chapter on bullous diseases, followed by chapters on urticaria and angioedema (N. A. Soter), syndromes mediated by exotoxins (E, O. Rasmussen and K. D. Wuepper), atopic dermatitis (J. M. Butler and J. M. Hanifin), drug reactions (B. U. Wintroub and R. S. Stem), photoimmunology (J. A. Parrish), cutaneous T cell lymphomas (A. C. Chu and R. L. Edelson), leprosy (R. StC. Bametson), psoriasis (T. F. Anderson and J. J. Voorhees), connective tissue diseases (N. Dore, H. Mogavero, and T. T. Provost), fungal infection (R. J. Hay), vasculitis (J. J. Cream), graft-versus-host reaction (J. H. Saurat), allergic contact dermatitis (W. L. Epstein), and ends with a discussion of dermatologic conditions associated with eosinophilia (P. F. Weller and E. J. Goetzl). As a dermatologist with special interests in infectious disease and immunology who himself has authored a book on clinical immunodermatology (you need to know my bias), I particularly enjoyed the chapters on cutaneous syndromes mediated by bacterial endotoxins, graft-versus-host disease, and allergic contact dermatitis. Drs. Wintroub and Stern did an excellent job of discussing cutaneous drug reactions. Drs. Chu and Edelson's chapter on cutaneous T cell lymphomas is a superb clinical chapter, although the immunologic discussion consumes only about three of its twenty-seven pages. Psoriasis may not be an immunologic disease, so it seemed acceptable that the chapter is aimed at the biochemical abnormalities as well as the immunologic and clinical features. Dr. MaeKie's claim in the introduction that each chapter is. extensively referenced is borne out. Almost all the chapters have more than forty references. The book carries a 1984 copyright, and most of the chapters do reference work through 1982--very acceptable. The nondermatologist to whom this book is written will find it an excellent introduction to immunologically mediated skin diseases. To many dermatologists, the material will be a review of information already familiar to them. The book costs $35 and has a colorful plastic-coated, seemingly very durable cover.
Mark V. DaM, M.D., Minneapolis, MN
Book reviews
149
Clinical pharmacology of skin disease David R. Bickers, M.D., Paul G. Hazen, M.D., and William S. Lynch, M.D., New York, 1984, Churchill Livingstone Inc. 312 pages. $39.50. The skin is a unique organ of the body since dermatologic disorders can reflect all kinds of disease entities. This book attempts to provide the dermatologist with the latest theories and pharmacologic agents that are necessary knowledge for sophisticated and expert treatment. Dr. Bickers and his associates have written an impressive volume using pharmacologic principles whenever possible to provide understanding for rational drug therapy. The chapters are chosen to reflect the agents most commonly used. For example, chapter headings are found on antihistamines and nonsteroidal drugs, glucocorticostefolds, cytotoxic and immunosuppresive agents, antibodies, antifungal and antiyeast agents, phototherapy, sulfones, sulfapyridine, vitamin A and the retinoids, and local anesthetic agents. Chapters on dermatopharmacology and cutaneous inflammation provide a good background for those on drugs. The chapters are not encyclopedic but give rational biochemical, physiologic, and pharmacologic backgrounds that blend into drug therapy. Thus, the reader is learning pharmacology while at the same time being given logical reasons for drug use. The book uses a surprising number of helpful diagrams that are useful to any biomedical individual for the understanding of the pharmacology and the disease entity. Each chapter is accompanied by a reference list that is clearly developed in the chapters themselves. Medical students and housestaff will particularly enjoy the review of pharmacology found in the book. I found only one criticism in reviewing aspects of the inflammatory response and that is that the kinins were barely mentioned; perhaps in subsequent editions this will be rectified. Overall, it is an excellent addition to both the dermatologic and the pharmacologic literature. Dr. Bickers and associates should be congratulated.
Lowell M. Greenbaum, Ph.D., Augttsta, GA
II
Adverse reactions to foods John A. Anderson, M.D., and Dorothy D. Sogn, M.D., editors, American Academy of Allergy and Immunology Committee on Adverse Reactions to Foods and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Washington, DC, 1984, National Institutes of Health Publication No. 84-2442. 321 pages. $9.50. As someone who is basically a deep skeptic about food allergies, I chuckled when asked to read this monograph that is designated to serve two purposes: (1) a text of food allergies and (2) a document of needed further research. However, I was pleasantly surprised by.how well these goals were reached and commend this book to all dermatologists. No matter what your opinion--if you never would deem to ask about diets or try dietary ma,nipulation, or if you almost invariably change your patients' eating patterns--this very impartially edited book has something for you, My only interest in food allergy is simple. As a consultant, I see all too many cases of chronic urticaria and intractable pruritus. In both instances, dietary manipulation, especially diet records, and elimination diets occasionally seem helpful. The use of elimination diets is extensively discussed and many sample plans are given. Another valuable feature of the text is the almost endless number of references. Every subject is documented or overdocumented and both the serious articles and the odd ones are included. Citations are scattered throughout, but I estimate there are close to 1,000 sources given. Several very useful tables are included, such as a 10-page listing of food groups according to biologic relationship. For example, a peanut is far more closely related to beans and peas than nuts, so people with documented peanut intolerance should avoid other legumes. Another useful addition was a chapter on nonatlergic food intolerance, covering such things as plant toxins, hallucinogens, and food additives. Finally, there is an appendix over 100 pages in length covering in tabular form diseases transmitted by foods, including everything from worms to strontium 90.
148
II
Returning to the stated topic of food allergy, of special interest to dermatologists is the issue of prevention of atopy by dietary manipulation in pregnancy and early infancy. This controversial topic is examined in a balanced fashion. Other concepts that probably do not deserve balanced treatment still receive it. For example, autoinjection with sterile urine is condemned because the urine contains enough glomerular antigens to perhaps trigger an autoimmune glomerulonephritis. Other concepts with which I have always had trouble, such as hypoglycemia, Feingo!d diet, and enVironmental isolation centers, received kindly but nonetheless negative evaluations. In short, no matter how much you think you are disinterested in food allergies, I predict that as you read through this pamphlet you will become interested and get some ideas for patient care. It is a simple 321 pages, with big print, lots of tables, and huge appendices. You can read this easily in 1 or 2 hours and then file it as a valuable reference.
Walter H. C. Burgdorf, M.D., Albuquerque, NM Current perspectives in immunodermatology Rona M. MacKie, M.D., editor, New York, 1984, Churchill Livingstone Inc. 289 pages. $35. "The aim," Dr. Rona MacKie writes in the introduction, "is to provide for the dermatologist a useful and up-to-date review of current fruitful and collaborative investigations in the areas of dermatology in which immunological abnormalities are known or postulated to play a part." This multiauthored book of 289 pages meets this aim. Each chapter always reviews each relevant clinical disease in order to orient the nondermatologist to clinical aspects. Then, discussion of the histology and steps to a laboratory diagnosis precede discussions of pathobiology, prognosis, and treatment in most chapters. Since each chapter is written by a different author, the format is not exactly uniform; overall emphasis and orientation of each chapter are similar enough that the text seems unified. Dr. MacKie has assembled sixteen manuscript chapters written by well-recognized experts from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (actually four
Volume 12 Number 1, Part 1 January, 1985 continents now that Dr. Butler has moved back to Australia). Dr. Robert Jordon leads off with a chapter on bullous diseases, followed by chapters on urticaria and angioedema (N. A. Soter), syndromes mediated by exotoxins (E, O. Rasmussen and K. D. Wuepper), atopic dermatitis (J. M. Butler and J. M. Hanifin), drug reactions (B. U. Wintroub and R. S. Stem), photoimmunology (J. A. Parrish), cutaneous T cell lymphomas (A. C. Chu and R. L. Edelson), leprosy (R. StC. Bametson), psoriasis (T. F. Anderson and J. J. Voorhees), connective tissue diseases (N. Dore, H. Mogavero, and T. T. Provost), fungal infection (R. J. Hay), vasculitis (J. J. Cream), graft-versus-host reaction (J. H. Saurat), allergic contact dermatitis (W. L. Epstein), and ends with a discussion of dermatologic conditions associated with eosinophilia (P. F. Weller and E. J. Goetzl). As a dermatologist with special interests in infectious disease and immunology who himself has authored a book on clinical immunodermatology (you need to know my bias), I particularly enjoyed the chapters on cutaneous syndromes mediated by bacterial endotoxins, graft-versus-host disease, and allergic contact dermatitis. Drs. Wintroub and Stern did an excellent job of discussing cutaneous drug reactions. Drs. Chu and Edelson's chapter on cutaneous T cell lymphomas is a superb clinical chapter, although the immunologic discussion consumes only about three of its twenty-seven pages. Psoriasis may not be an immunologic disease, so it seemed acceptable that the chapter is aimed at the biochemical abnormalities as well as the immunologic and clinical features. Dr. MaeKie's claim in the introduction that each chapter is. extensively referenced is borne out. Almost all the chapters have more than forty references. The book carries a 1984 copyright, and most of the chapters do reference work through 1982--very acceptable. The nondermatologist to whom this book is written will find it an excellent introduction to immunologically mediated skin diseases. To many dermatologists, the material will be a review of information already familiar to them. The book costs $35 and has a colorful plastic-coated, seemingly very durable cover.
Mark V. DaM, M.D., Minneapolis, MN
Book reviews
149
Clinical pharmacology of skin disease David R. Bickers, M.D., Paul G. Hazen, M.D., and William S. Lynch, M.D., New York, 1984, Churchill Livingstone Inc. 312 pages. $39.50. The skin is a unique organ of the body since dermatologic disorders can reflect all kinds of disease entities. This book attempts to provide the dermatologist with the latest theories and pharmacologic agents that are necessary knowledge for sophisticated and expert treatment. Dr. Bickers and his associates have written an impressive volume using pharmacologic principles whenever possible to provide understanding for rational drug therapy. The chapters are chosen to reflect the agents most commonly used. For example, chapter headings are found on antihistamines and nonsteroidal drugs, glucocorticostefolds, cytotoxic and immunosuppresive agents, antibodies, antifungal and antiyeast agents, phototherapy, sulfones, sulfapyridine, vitamin A and the retinoids, and local anesthetic agents. Chapters on dermatopharmacology and cutaneous inflammation provide a good background for those on drugs. The chapters are not encyclopedic but give rational biochemical, physiologic, and pharmacologic backgrounds that blend into drug therapy. Thus, the reader is learning pharmacology while at the same time being given logical reasons for drug use. The book uses a surprising number of helpful diagrams that are useful to any biomedical individual for the understanding of the pharmacology and the disease entity. Each chapter is accompanied by a reference list that is clearly developed in the chapters themselves. Medical students and housestaff will particularly enjoy the review of pharmacology found in the book. I found only one criticism in reviewing aspects of the inflammatory response and that is that the kinins were barely mentioned; perhaps in subsequent editions this will be rectified. Overall, it is an excellent addition to both the dermatologic and the pharmacologic literature. Dr. Bickers and associates should be congratulated.
Lowell M. Greenbaum, Ph.D., Augttsta, GA