Digitalis

Book Reviews

f

@ Digitalis

by

Springfield,

E.

This collection were presented devoted

Gray

Dimond.

Thomas,

at a two-day postgraduate reviews

the

studies and some of the current of this volume

clinical

concepts

a complete

known

facts

chapter

is Ralph

account

of William

printing

up-to-date

about

digitalis.

hlajor’s

and

The

simple

Withering’s

of Withering’s

Foxglove

Some

opening

and inspiring life and a re-

“An

Account

of the

Its

Medical

Uses.”

of

Next, K. K. Chen “keynotes” of physiologic

story of the

some of the fields

and biochemical

research

dealing

with the action and pharmacology of digitalis which have been most fruitful. R. J. Bing pinpoints the exact locus of action of digitalis on the contractile metabolic

prokin

recovery

the excitatory

rather

Friedman tract,

talis is excreted of digitoxin there

portion

0.1 g of digitalis

a day. is neither

in the heart

vascular

fluid.

capacity

to

Friedman selective muscle

shows

concentration

of

nor in the extra-

digitoxin”

pmer day),

of overdosage

(0.050-0.075

he points

out

active digitoxin

the

out

when maintenance

metabolic

the

doses

of radio-

and shows that the myocardium

of digitalis

NOVEMBER,

1958

is to expedite

overlooked

vestigators

out

and can

of the papillary

of heart has

by other

and magnified

in-

by care-

electrograms

the isotonic

muscles

that

this effect

be demonstrated

by recording

the

is to ac-

length

that

or unexplained

fully manipulated obtained

of digitalis

diastolic

point

at

level.

revive the claims

action

the

They

phosphate

movements

or ventricle

strips of

dogs or cats. Batterman

uses a number

matic diagrams to

the

various

digitalis.

of graphic

clinical

effects

He is not in accord

previous

sche-

to support certain ideas he has as

writers’

beliefs

obtained

with

with some of the

and

he explains

the

range” of digivariations in the “therapeutic talis encountered when the usual average digitalizing

doses are employed

individual

and

his

“redigitalizing”

technic

tenance

therapy,

digitalis

effect

more some

management

Batterman

shows

consideration advice

than

on the

proper

of the patient between

in the

of heart

auricular

The last chapter readable

book

panel discussion papers.

Lown reviews

failure

and digitalis and

due

to

in this well-organized is the

verbatim

following

offers bedside

on digitalis therapy.

potassium

arrhythmias

the is of

the choice

Sodeman

the relationship the

that

used.

In the final two papers Bernard therapy

Using a on main-

in an individual

or dosage

excellent

due to the

status.

on patients

obtained

important

of glycoside

as being

cardiac

report

presentation

discusses digitalis. and very of the of these

NORMAN A. DAVID, M.D. ISIDORC. BRILL,M.D.

laboratory,

fate

has no preferential affinity for digitalis since the glycoside is rapidly changed to its metabolites. Grisola and Ito, from oxygen utilization studies performed on mitochondria treated with digitalis, agree with Bing and reason that the beneficial effect

been

are employed.

work d.one in Geiling’s

maps

or 0.1 mg

further

in the range of 0.2 rng of digitoxin Okita

of digi-

In view of the body’s “minute destroy

mg of digitoxin

Through

that

from the gastro-

that the major

digitalis

danger

experimentally

absorbed

via the urine, and that man de-

stroys approximately that

during

duck heart assay method

confirms

digitalis is completely intestinal

than initially

phase.

Using the embryonic Meyer

of the muscle cell during

and Aravanis

decrease

muscle.

experimental

The 234 pages the reader for the first

provide

tively

com-

of the action and use of digitalis. with

Luisada

energy or transfer

part of the salutary

session

of digitalis,

recent

of high

energy production

of twelve papers, of which nine

to the single subject

prehensively

time

utilization

Ill., 13587, pp. 255, $7.00.

the

effective

Low-Fat

Cookery. By Evelyn S. Stead and Gloria K. Warren. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1956, pp. 184, $3.95. This is by far the best written

and most care-

fully prepared book on the low fat diet at levels of 25 and 50 grams each day. Considerable skill and practical experience have gone into the

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