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Reversible Renal Insufficiency
BOOK REVIEWS By Don ald H. Atlas, M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Gaberman, M.D. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Company, 1958. 233 pages, refer ences, index. Price: $7.00. The old term, uremic retinopathy, always connoted imminent exitus lethalis to the ophthalmologist. Although the terminology has changed and we now speak of hyperten sive retinopathy, the poor prognosis of renal insufficiency is still a tenet of ophthalmology. In this monograph the authors show that there is a large group of acute renal diseases where the insufficiency is not only amenable to treatment but in many cases reversible. Of even greater interest is Part II of this text which discusses chronic renal insuf ficiencies and shows that some of these are also reversible. Of particular concern to the ophthalmologist is the renal insufficiency as sociated with hyperparathyroidism and other hypercalcémie states. In these conditions cal cium is frequently deposited in the conjunc tiva and cornea and indeed may be the only clinical manifestation of the underlying con dition. This section on the ocular manifesta tions of hypercalcemia is well worth reading. David Shoch. REVERSIBLE RENAL INSUFFICIENCY.
T H E PRESERVATION OF EYESIGHT. By
Sir
Arthur Salusbury MacNalty, M.D., and consultants. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Company, 1959. 107 pages, index. Price: $3.00. This slim volume, like that by Derrick Vail on The Truth About Your Eyes, recounts in simple language the precautions necessary to maintain good eyesight. Elementary informa tion is given briefly on the structure, nutri
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tion, and diseases of the eye. Among the foods listed as containing the vitamins es sential for good sight are liver, eggs, butter, milk, cheese, mackeral, halibut, herring, codliver oil, vegetables, whole cereals, and yeast. Operation for squint is advised as soon as it is evident that nonoperative measures will prove unsuccessful. Lighting is well dis cussed. Weston found in the printing indus try that when the illumination was increased to 25 foot-candles, the rate and efficiency of output equalled that obtained under daylight conditions. Classrooms should have windows of such size as to provide at each desk two to five percent of daylight. White paint reflects 75 to 80 percent of light; cream, ivory or primrose, 60 to 70 percent. In a most inter esting chapter blindness is discussed in some detail. In Great Britain a blind person is legally but rather vaguely defined as a person who is unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential. Mining and quarrying take precedence even over the metal-producing and metalworking industries in severity of eye acci dents. The virtual elimination of lead poison ing is one of the many triumphs of preven tive medicine. The author, in discussing eye testing and spectacles, warns that "there is a certain danger in the initial use of bifocals, as it is easy to misjudge distances through them, and this sometimes causes a disastrous fall in elderly people." The final chapter, a masterly recapitulation of the important points to be remembered, deserves the widest possible circulation. This excellent book, though not unique in its field, should be of interest and value to your wife, your secretary, and the laity in general. James E. Lebensohn.
T H E PRESERVATION OF EYESIGHT. By
Sir
Arthur Salusbury MacNalty, M.D., and consultants. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Company, 1959. 107 pages, index. Price: $3.00. This slim volume, like that by Derrick Vail on The Truth About Your Eyes, recounts in simple language the precautions necessary to maintain good eyesight. Elementary informa tion is given briefly on the structure, nutri
273
tion, and diseases of the eye. Among the foods listed as containing the vitamins es sential for good sight are liver, eggs, butter, milk, cheese, mackeral, halibut, herring, codliver oil, vegetables, whole cereals, and yeast. Operation for squint is advised as soon as it is evident that nonoperative measures will prove unsuccessful. Lighting is well dis cussed. Weston found in the printing indus try that when the illumination was increased to 25 foot-candles, the rate and efficiency of output equalled that obtained under daylight conditions. Classrooms should have windows of such size as to provide at each desk two to five percent of daylight. White paint reflects 75 to 80 percent of light; cream, ivory or primrose, 60 to 70 percent. In a most inter esting chapter blindness is discussed in some detail. In Great Britain a blind person is legally but rather vaguely defined as a person who is unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential. Mining and quarrying take precedence even over the metal-producing and metalworking industries in severity of eye acci dents. The virtual elimination of lead poison ing is one of the many triumphs of preven tive medicine. The author, in discussing eye testing and spectacles, warns that "there is a certain danger in the initial use of bifocals, as it is easy to misjudge distances through them, and this sometimes causes a disastrous fall in elderly people." The final chapter, a masterly recapitulation of the important points to be remembered, deserves the widest possible circulation. This excellent book, though not unique in its field, should be of interest and value to your wife, your secretary, and the laity in general. James E. Lebensohn.