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WHO expert committee on drug dependence, 8th report
BOOK REVIEWS
Cerebrovascular Diseases. Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation (Report of a W H O Meeting) (Technical Report Series, No. 469), 57 pages, Office of Publications and Translation, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva, 27, 1971, Sfr 3. ; 3 0 p ; US $ 1. . This short m o n o g r a p h presents the deliberations of an international group of experts on cerebrovascular disease which according to the statistics presented--ranks a m o n g the three leading causes
Medizinische Psychologic, by E. KRETSCHMER, edited by W. KRETSCHMER, 13th enlarged and revised edition, vii+227 pages, 27 illustrations, 9 tables, Thieme. Stuttgart, 1971, D M 39.--. The first edition of this book appeared in 1922. Then, as today, the problem existed what kind of psychology the medical student ought to be taught. Kretschmer attempted to present a highly personal account of "biological psychology" and succeeded
Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia, Vol. 2 (Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia, Graz, Austria, 8-13 September, 1969) (International Congress Series, No. 212), by F. M. WAGENEDER AND S'I. SCHUY (Eds.), xxvi+357 pages, illustrated, with tables, Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, 1970, US $ 23.50: £ 9.85; Dfl 84.60. Electroanesthesia and electro-sleep have attracted m u c h research work over the years but successful clinical application has remained elusive. This volume records the proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia held in Graz in 1970 Vol. 1 contains the proceedings of the 1st symposium held in 1966 and the contributions suggest that though the advocates of "cerebral electro-therapy" are enthusiastic, their results indicate a promise still unfulfilled. Electro-sleep is here recommended for a variety of conditions, some difficult to identify from the diagnostic labels used but most of which could be called "psychosomatic". Success seems to be related to the suggestability of the patient and his
WHO Expert Committee on Dru9 Dependence, 8th Report (World Health Organization Technical Report Series, No. 460), 45 pages, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1971, Sfr 3 . - - ; US $ 1. ; 3O p. This pamphlet reports the proceedings of an international committee which met in August, 1970, at
509
of death in 40 countries of the world. A practical classification of strokes is presented along with a useful tabular aid to differential diagnosis. Recommendations about treatment in the acute stage are of necessity sketchy but are supplemented by an extensive bibliography. In the field of prevention reliance is placed on the detection and control of hypertension, there being little c o m m e n t on the problem of atheroma. The m o n o g r a p h is a useful addition to the literature on cerebrovascular disease. J. MARSHALL
as well as a single author can. His book was a product of the twenties when G e r m a n psychiatry was at the height of its fame. Although the editor has brought some chapters up to date, the book is a period piece, but one worth keeping alive. It reflects the aspirations and the self-confidence of a past generation of psychiatrists to w h o m psychological medicine owes a great deal. E. STENGEL
response to general supportive measures. Tatsumo and Wageneder in one of the more critical papers show the failure of frank depressives to respond while other less disturbed patients improved. Other papers were often difficult to assess because of lack of concrete data. Reports from the U.S.S.R. on the use of electroanesthesia suggest that this procedure adds to rather than detracts from the operative risks. Three papers report pathological changes in rabbits due to the passage of currents similar to those used clinically. Nearly half the volume is concerned with detailed descriptions of electrical techniques, apparatus and models which are of limited interest to the nonspecialist and seem from the references often to have been published before in specialist journals. There are also some diffuse essays discussing such subjects as "biocybernetics" and "the physiologic responses to astrophysical disturbances". Overall the volume seems concerned with fringe activities unlikely to contribute either to fundamental knowledge or therapeutic advance and it contains a disappointing a m o u n t of hard information. M. MARSHALL
Geneva to consider current approaches to the prevention and treatment of drug dependence. Although the text is concerned with principle rather than detail, it provides an excellent survey of modern practice in this difficult field. A s u m m a r y of the psychological, pharmacological and sociological hypotheses of the aetiology of drug dependence introduces the subject. The goals
J. neurol. Sci., 1971, 14:506 510
510
BOOK REVIEWS
o f prevention and treatment are divided into immediate, intermediate and long-term and it is acknowledged that the ideal goal o f total abstinence, independence, gainful employment, satisfactory social and personal adjustment and emotional stability is seldom achieved. Total abstinence is not an essential pre-requisite o f improvement in the other areas. Treatment. necessarily preceded by an assessment of needs analogous to medical diagnosis, is considered under the headings of medical and other complications, withdrawal. maintenance, the use of narcotic antagonists, and self-regulating communities. Legal controls and education are the main weapons in prevention.
The pamphlet ends with three appendices: (1) a bibliography on the "British Approach", [21 a bibliography on Methadone Maintenance and [3) a list of drugs under International Narcotics Control. The pervading air of realism and welcome scepticism towards the more gimmicky method> indicates that the members of this committee are by no m e a n s armchair experts. This is a eoncrse and useful review of current ideas on a subject which is increasingly liable to crop up in many different guises, not least neuro-psychiatr)c
The Neural Control o f Behavior. by R. E. WHALEN. R. F. THOMPSON. M. VERZEANO AND N. M. WEINBERGER (Eds.}, x v i + 2 9 9 pages, 129 illustrations. Academic Press. New York. London, 1970. US $ 12.00.
and Olds), visual m e m o r y and the tempor',d lobe (Weiskrantz), "Split-brain" experiments (Bureg and Bure~ovfi), evoked responses (Verzeano and Thompson), p h o t o p i g m e n t s in vision [Crescitelli), habituation of neural responses (Horn), brain mechanisms of behaviour patterns (FI.vnn et aL, and Roberts}. The book is well produced with clear diagrams and each chapter has a full list of references. However, as with m a n y symposiun reports, it is nob, two years or more since the papers were delivered. C D. MARSDEN
This volume contains ten papers presented at a conference held at the Department of Psychobiology of the University of California in 1968. The topics dealt with are only loosely related to each other. The subjects discussed include unit responses in the hippocampus(Anderson and Lomo,
K DAVIS{)N
J. neurol. Sci.. 1971. t 4 : 5 0 6 ~ t 0
Cerebrovascular Diseases. Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation (Report of a W H O Meeting) (Technical Report Series, No. 469), 57 pages, Office of Publications and Translation, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva, 27, 1971, Sfr 3. ; 3 0 p ; US $ 1. . This short m o n o g r a p h presents the deliberations of an international group of experts on cerebrovascular disease which according to the statistics presented--ranks a m o n g the three leading causes
Medizinische Psychologic, by E. KRETSCHMER, edited by W. KRETSCHMER, 13th enlarged and revised edition, vii+227 pages, 27 illustrations, 9 tables, Thieme. Stuttgart, 1971, D M 39.--. The first edition of this book appeared in 1922. Then, as today, the problem existed what kind of psychology the medical student ought to be taught. Kretschmer attempted to present a highly personal account of "biological psychology" and succeeded
Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia, Vol. 2 (Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia, Graz, Austria, 8-13 September, 1969) (International Congress Series, No. 212), by F. M. WAGENEDER AND S'I. SCHUY (Eds.), xxvi+357 pages, illustrated, with tables, Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, 1970, US $ 23.50: £ 9.85; Dfl 84.60. Electroanesthesia and electro-sleep have attracted m u c h research work over the years but successful clinical application has remained elusive. This volume records the proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Electrotherapeutic Sleep and Electroanaesthesia held in Graz in 1970 Vol. 1 contains the proceedings of the 1st symposium held in 1966 and the contributions suggest that though the advocates of "cerebral electro-therapy" are enthusiastic, their results indicate a promise still unfulfilled. Electro-sleep is here recommended for a variety of conditions, some difficult to identify from the diagnostic labels used but most of which could be called "psychosomatic". Success seems to be related to the suggestability of the patient and his
WHO Expert Committee on Dru9 Dependence, 8th Report (World Health Organization Technical Report Series, No. 460), 45 pages, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1971, Sfr 3 . - - ; US $ 1. ; 3O p. This pamphlet reports the proceedings of an international committee which met in August, 1970, at
509
of death in 40 countries of the world. A practical classification of strokes is presented along with a useful tabular aid to differential diagnosis. Recommendations about treatment in the acute stage are of necessity sketchy but are supplemented by an extensive bibliography. In the field of prevention reliance is placed on the detection and control of hypertension, there being little c o m m e n t on the problem of atheroma. The m o n o g r a p h is a useful addition to the literature on cerebrovascular disease. J. MARSHALL
as well as a single author can. His book was a product of the twenties when G e r m a n psychiatry was at the height of its fame. Although the editor has brought some chapters up to date, the book is a period piece, but one worth keeping alive. It reflects the aspirations and the self-confidence of a past generation of psychiatrists to w h o m psychological medicine owes a great deal. E. STENGEL
response to general supportive measures. Tatsumo and Wageneder in one of the more critical papers show the failure of frank depressives to respond while other less disturbed patients improved. Other papers were often difficult to assess because of lack of concrete data. Reports from the U.S.S.R. on the use of electroanesthesia suggest that this procedure adds to rather than detracts from the operative risks. Three papers report pathological changes in rabbits due to the passage of currents similar to those used clinically. Nearly half the volume is concerned with detailed descriptions of electrical techniques, apparatus and models which are of limited interest to the nonspecialist and seem from the references often to have been published before in specialist journals. There are also some diffuse essays discussing such subjects as "biocybernetics" and "the physiologic responses to astrophysical disturbances". Overall the volume seems concerned with fringe activities unlikely to contribute either to fundamental knowledge or therapeutic advance and it contains a disappointing a m o u n t of hard information. M. MARSHALL
Geneva to consider current approaches to the prevention and treatment of drug dependence. Although the text is concerned with principle rather than detail, it provides an excellent survey of modern practice in this difficult field. A s u m m a r y of the psychological, pharmacological and sociological hypotheses of the aetiology of drug dependence introduces the subject. The goals
J. neurol. Sci., 1971, 14:506 510
510
BOOK REVIEWS
o f prevention and treatment are divided into immediate, intermediate and long-term and it is acknowledged that the ideal goal o f total abstinence, independence, gainful employment, satisfactory social and personal adjustment and emotional stability is seldom achieved. Total abstinence is not an essential pre-requisite o f improvement in the other areas. Treatment. necessarily preceded by an assessment of needs analogous to medical diagnosis, is considered under the headings of medical and other complications, withdrawal. maintenance, the use of narcotic antagonists, and self-regulating communities. Legal controls and education are the main weapons in prevention.
The pamphlet ends with three appendices: (1) a bibliography on the "British Approach", [21 a bibliography on Methadone Maintenance and [3) a list of drugs under International Narcotics Control. The pervading air of realism and welcome scepticism towards the more gimmicky method> indicates that the members of this committee are by no m e a n s armchair experts. This is a eoncrse and useful review of current ideas on a subject which is increasingly liable to crop up in many different guises, not least neuro-psychiatr)c
The Neural Control o f Behavior. by R. E. WHALEN. R. F. THOMPSON. M. VERZEANO AND N. M. WEINBERGER (Eds.}, x v i + 2 9 9 pages, 129 illustrations. Academic Press. New York. London, 1970. US $ 12.00.
and Olds), visual m e m o r y and the tempor',d lobe (Weiskrantz), "Split-brain" experiments (Bureg and Bure~ovfi), evoked responses (Verzeano and Thompson), p h o t o p i g m e n t s in vision [Crescitelli), habituation of neural responses (Horn), brain mechanisms of behaviour patterns (FI.vnn et aL, and Roberts}. The book is well produced with clear diagrams and each chapter has a full list of references. However, as with m a n y symposiun reports, it is nob, two years or more since the papers were delivered. C D. MARSDEN
This volume contains ten papers presented at a conference held at the Department of Psychobiology of the University of California in 1968. The topics dealt with are only loosely related to each other. The subjects discussed include unit responses in the hippocampus(Anderson and Lomo,
K DAVIS{)N
J. neurol. Sci.. 1971. t 4 : 5 0 6 ~ t 0