Wake Disorders: Natural History, Epidemiology, and Long-Term Evolution

Wake Disorders: Natural History, Epidemiology, and Long-Term Evolution

68 BOOK REVIEWS Mayo Clin Proc, January 1985, Vol 60 medicine. To its credit, it is neither an encyclopedia nor a Physicians' Desk Reference, altho...

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BOOK REVIEWS

Mayo Clin Proc, January 1985, Vol 60

medicine. To its credit, it is neither an encyclopedia nor a Physicians' Desk Reference, although satisfactory practical reviews of many agents are provided. The objective of the editor was to provide a convenient source of material that would be of value to both new and established investigators as well as to practicing and teaching clinicians. This goal seems to have been accomplished. One lapse in the book bears mentioning. A compendium type of review requires a comprehensive index. I suspectthatthe index ofthis text, like most other indexes, wascompi led by a professional indexer and not reviewed by the editor. An example of the poor construction is the inclusion of three subject entries entitled l3-adrenergic antagonists and agonists, l3-adrenergic blockers, and l3-adrenoceptor antagonists, all of which refer to different pages and none of which cross-references the others. Michael D. McGoon, M.D. Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine

Chronic Diarrhea in Children (Nestle Nutrition Workshop Series, Vol 6), edited by Emanuel Lebenthal, 568 pp, with illus, $39.50, New York, Raven Press, 1984

When asked to examine a patient who has diarrhea, physicians in the United States usually consider an infectious cause and predict a quick recovery. Throughout the world, however, diarrheal disease continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and approaches to its management are asdependent on cause as on available health resources. Although some progress has been made in obtunding this disease, much more research is needed to reduce the associated morbidity and mortality even further. This background information perhaps served as the impetus for the international workshop sponsored by Nestle Corporation and held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1983. The presentations given at that meeting plus additional chapters were skillfully edited by Dr. Lebenthal, and the result is an excellent volume that adequately represents the state of the art of management of diarrhea in children. Seven major topics are discussed, including nutrient absorption in pediatric patients with chronic diarrhea, mechanisms of diarrhea in infants, and host defense and protein sensitivities associated with diarrhea. The text, which is generally well written and is impressively referenced, is enhanced by wellreproduced figures, particularly the histologic and scanning electron micrographs. As with many reviews of this

type, this compilation has the characteristic flaw of repetitive material. For example, various infectious agents are discussed in multiple chapters, and minimal information is provided in each chapter except for one that reviews giardiasis. The mechanisms of diarrhea at the luminal and cellular levels are covered in depth; thus, the reader is prepared for the new approaches and modalities of treatment. Because of thorough editing and indexing, the information in this book is accessible to both the casual and the serious reader. The text is beautifully printed in large typeface on heavy, glossy paper, and the price is justifiable. Although this volume will be of interest to many physicians, the lack of material on the assessment of patients with chronic diarrhea will limit its appeal for primary-care physicians. We enthusiastically recommend this book to specialists in pediatrics and gastroenterology. James E. Shander, M.D. Department of Pediatrics Jean Perrault, M.D. Division of Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine

SleeplWake Disorders: Natural History, Epidemiology, and Long-Term Evolution, edited by Christian Guilleminault and Elio Lugaresi, 284 pp, with illus, $47, New York, Raven Press, 1983

Sleep disorders medicine is a relatively new field, and this book is the first publication that addresses the epidemiology of a variety of sleep disorders. Although the text may not be of widespread interest, it will be a welcome addition to the library of chronobiologists and of clinicians and researchers who are interested in sleep disorders. Production of this volume was an international effort, although almost half of the reports were written by investigators from Stanford University or the University of Bologna, the institutions with which the editors are affiliated. The topics range from a report reiating socioeconomic factors to subjectively good or poor sleep in persons from the Republic of San Marino to the apparently obligatory chapter on erectile dysfunction. Of the 22 studies reported in this volume, 5 are concerned with the prevalence of sleep problems in general. The sheer number of people questioned in these surveys (a total of more than 48,000 persons) is impressive. In general, all these studies reported similar findings: that

Mayo Clin Proc, January 1985, Vol 60

insomnia is common, increases with age, and is detected more frequently in women older than 50 years of age than in men in the same age group. At least these findings prevailed in persons from the Republic of San Marino, Texas, Finland, San Francisco, and an Italian hospital. One fascinating report shows that the subjective quality of sleep is linked to subsequent performance in navy corpsmen-that is, the poor sleepers are less effective sailors. Several reports on the epidemiology of sleep apnea and narcolepsy will be of practical benefit to physicians who attempt to diagnose and treat these disorders. Although the book contains some overlapping material from chapter to chapter-a common problem in multiauthored texts-the duplication is not excessive and the editing has been well done. I recommend purchase of this volume for all hospital and clinic libraries, and anyone directly involved in sleep disorders medicine will want a personal copy. Philip R. Westbrook, M.D. Director, Mayo Sleep Disorder Center BOOKS RECEIVED Understanding Heart Sounds and Murmurs: With an Introduction to Lung Sounds (with cassette), 2nd ed, by Ara G. Tilkian and Mary Boudreau Conover, 265 pp, with illus, $24.50, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1984 Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, 1984, 19th ed, edited by Carmen M. E. Krogh, 920 pp, with illus, $79.75, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Pharmaceutical Association (distributed by Marcel Dekker, New York), 1984 Manual of Clinical Problems in Asthma, Allergy, and Related Disorders: With Annotated Key References, edited by Don A. Bukstein and Robert C. Strunk, 293 pp, with illus, $18.95, Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1984 Manual of Clinical Problems in Neurology: With Annotated Key References, edited by L P. Mohr, 347 pp, $18.95, Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1984 The Top 200-1984: The Most Widely Prescribed Drugs in America, by Ronald I. Tallarida, 238 pp, with illus, $15.50, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1984 Your First Response in the Streets, by Garry L. Briese and David Schottke, 289 pp, with illus, $14.95, Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1984

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Pediatric Cardiac Imaging, by William F. Friedman and Charles B. Higgins, 279 pp, with illus, $35, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1984 Marihuana in Science and Medicine, by Gabriel G. Nahas, David l. Harvey, Michel Paris, and Henry Brill, 312 pp, with illus, $48, New York, Raven Press, 1984 The Olivopontocerebellar Atrophies (Advances in Neurology, Vol 41), edited by Roger C. Duvoisin and Andreas Plaitakis, 286 pp, with illus, $45, New York, Raven Press, 1984 Diagnosis and Management of Hearing Loss, edited by William L. Meyerhoff, 182 pp, with illus, $32.50, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1984 Electrocardiography: Essentials of Interpretation, by Nora Goldschlager and Mervin l. Goldman, 236 pp, with illus, $13, Los Altos, California, Lange Medical Publications, 1984 Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice, by Robert K. Creasy and Robert Resnik, 1,147 pp, with illus, $95, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1984 Gene Transfer and Cancer (Progress in Cancer Research and Therapy, Vol 30), edited by Mark L. Pearson and Nat L. Sternberg, 376 pp, with illus, $64, New York, Raven Press, 1984 Conversations in Medicine: The Story of TwentiethCentury American Medicine in the Words of Those Who Created It, by Allen B. Weisse, 443 pp, with illus, $25, New York, New York University Press, 1984 Decompression: Decompression Sickness, by Albert A. BOhlmann, 87 pp, with illus, $14.50, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1984 Membrane Processes: Molecular Biology and Medical Applications, edited by Gheorghe Benga, Harold Baum, and Fred A. Kummerow, 261 pp, with illus, $39.50, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1984 Handbook of Phlebotomy, by Garland E. Pendergraph, 129 pp, with illus, $12.50, Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1984 Manual of Coronary Care, 3rd ed, by Joseph S. Alpert and Gary S. Francis, 190 pp, $16.95, Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1984 Pancreatic Pathology, edited by GOnter Kloppel and Philipp U. Heitz, 239 pp, with illus, $50, New York, Churchill Livingstone (distributed by Longman, Inc., New York), 1984 Caffeine: Perspectives From Recent Research, edited by Peter B. Dews, 260 pp, with illus, $29, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1984 Dermatology Revision: MCQ's, Case Histories and Picture Interpretation, by S. K. Goolamali, 240 pp, with illus, $14.50, New York, Churchill Livingstone, 1984