Modern Pharmacology with Clinical Applications

Abstract

Modern Pharmacology with Clinical Applications, 6th edn Edited by Charles R. Craig & Robert E. Stitzel Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004 824 pp. £34. ISBN 0-7817-3762-1 The first edition of this textbook appeared over 20 years ago. This edition, the 6th, is the product of 73 coauthors and is intended to answer the learning needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students in medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, pharmacy, as well as students in advanced nursing. As well as affording comprehensive coverage of all key topics in pharmacology, it includes chapters on gene therapy, herbal remedies, and topics of specific concern to selected readers, such as drugs for the control of supragingival plaque. Each chapter ends with a case study with further questions to illustrate the clinical relevance of the principles covered, as well as up to eight best-of-five (or best-of-four) questions to test the reader's recall. My only criticism here is that some questions require the reader to identify the only correct statement, others the only incorrect statement, which can be confusing where these alternatives are randomly distributed. In revising the previous edition, the editors set out to focus more on drug classes than on individual drugs, and to remove superfluous chemical formulae, retaining only those that would assist the reader's understanding of pharmacology or metabolism. The layout of the book is logical, the text easy to read and understand, and the diagrams are extremely clear. There is minimal use of colour compared with recent editions of similar textbooks published in the UK, but this did not detract from the clarity of the illustrations. Those chapters I read in detail contained very few proof-reading errors. In the index, all drug names are listed beneath the common entry ‘Drugs’ as well as alphabetically in their own right, which simplifies navigation. I was pleased to see a chapter on contemporary bio-ethical issues in pharmacology and pharmaceutical research. This not only explains the cardinal ethical principles, but spells out the conflicts of interest to which scientists, physicians and researchers can be exposed when dealing with the pharmaceutical industry, whether in the context of drug development studies or in relation to clinical education and product marketing. The authors emphasize that even medical students can be subject to inducements. UK prescribers will notice a number of transatlantic variations in emphasis (e.g. almost a whole page is allotted to the use of guanethidine as an antihypertensive agent, whereas nicorandil is not included among antianginal agents). However, with a few exceptions (notably among β-adrenoceptor agonists), the approved names of drugs and the clinical applications described are consistent with those in Europe, and students in the UK could use this book with confidence. This is not a textbook of therapeutics, nor is it sufficiently detailed for those studying for a Pharmacology degree. It is a textbook of applied pharmacology in which the clinical significance of drug action and interaction, elimination and pharmacokinetics is explained clearly and succinctly, so that the reader develops an approach to drug prescribing and administration that is both logical and cautious. I would recommend it especially to medical postgraduates seeking to refresh their knowledge and understanding of pharmacology as a basic science.