The pharmacologic principles of medical practice, 4th edition

Book Reviews

786 The

Pharmacologic

Principles

Practice, 4th edition, and

C.

Jelleff

Baltimore, The

Carr.

1958,

fourth

by John Williams

pp.

edition

thoroughly

up-to-date

The

better

edition.

book.

unofficial

approach

referencing

to

the

are greatly Where

drug action

out.

Carr

Both

drugs

and

improved

discussed. the

cross-

over the last

the mechanism

so that rational Part

is a

the official

are

and Circulation.”

of

therapy

6, of special

to cardiologists and to circulatory “The Pharmacologic is entitled, the Heart

Wilkins,

interest

physiologists, Response of

The

chapters

of

this part of the text deal with general considerations, digitalis, response

quinidine

of coronary

sion, blood clotting tem.

Each

and procain amide, the

vessels to drugs, hypertenand the hematopoietic

chapter

in this country

The

historical

Fuchs,

Professor

sys-

has a useful list of refer-

ences, chiefly readily available journals published

and books

in the past 10 years.

notes

add

color

of Medicine

to the text.

at Tiibingen

from

1535 to 1566, gave the name Digitalispurpurea the plant

we still use in preparing

His celebrated

treatise

in Base1 in 1542.

Our name for the plant, foxglove, been derived from folksglove, According

to

the drug.

“De historia stirpium com-

mentarii insignis,” was published

that hypertension

in man is usually of psychoso-

matic origin. The coverage of drugs applicable to the treatment of hypertension is fairly thorough,

and

drugs

it is possible,

is stressed,

can be carried

and

Jr.

of Pharmacologic Princa$les

Practice by Krantz

the

Medical

1,313, $14.00.

of Medical and

of

C. Krantz,

the principal

tranquilizing genie the

value especially in neuro-

hypertension.

principal

omission noted being the

drugs-of

The

disadvantage

failure

of many

favorably

certainly

needs explanation.

(page

The principal

so that

to the compound

the hypertensive

patient

with one of these compounds soon ceases to ex perience any lowering of blood pressure after receiving a dose. This textbook of 1,313

pages is weighty

of the pharmaceutical

industry

and of the country’s

in this country

lead in synthesizing This

lead

was

recognized

“Pharmacology August

and

1956.

National

This

Institutes

Involved

in

in

article

for

1956-60”

new

and

Julyby the

entitled “Problems

Plan

Research

states

lags behind capitalist

of covery substances.

U.S.S.R. for

(translated

of Health)

for

new drugs.

the

Toxicology”

Five-Year

Pharmacology U.S.S.R.

and evaluating

that

in the

states in the dis-

effective DAVID

medicinal B.

DILL

A Contribution to the Study of Portal Hypertension by Alan H. Hunt.

cases of portal

written clinical

with the purpose of reviewing material in order to evaluate

of digitalis

and of

derived glycosides is treated thoroughly and the therapeutic applications are described. The by the reference

to the

successful use of quinidine in conjunction with digitalis on the one hand and the emphasis placed on occasional disastrous results from small doses of quinidine in “the heart poisoned by digitalis.” 43, Pharmacologic Agents in Hyperten-

sion, deals incompletely with the factors concerned in the regulation of blood pressure levels. Some cardiologists will not accept the statement

Edinburgh,

Baltimore,

1958

E. & S. Livingstone

personal

Chapter

evi-

dence of the productivity

The

will be puzzled

oc-

treated

Ltd.,

student

dis-

of any of the nitrite group lies in the

To keep her slender fingers from the sun, Pan through the pastures oftentimes has run To pluck the speckled fox-gloves from their stem, And on those fingers neatly placed them.

of action

to 949)

is said to have

i.e., fairies’ glove.

to W. Browne,

mechanism

the

lies in

patients

to this chemical

fact that rapid adaptation curs,

that

nitrite

hypertensive

respond advantage

statement

of sodium

exclusive

U.

(Williams S.

& Wilkins,

agents),

pp.

230?

analyzes

250

$8.50. The

present

newer methods

report,

which

hypertension,

of treatment.

has been the the

The first patient

was seen in 1947 and the last to be included in this series was observed in 1956. The follow-up observations ranged from six months to many years. This study the liver which

indicated develops

that cirrhosis of without known

predisposing cause is likely to be mild, whereas cirrhosis due to a specific cause is more often severe or progressive. However, the prognosis depends upon the severity rather than the THE

AMERICAN

JOURNAL

OF CARDIOLOGY