Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine

Abstract

& Practice of Medicine reigned supreme as the comprehensive account of British medical practice for undergraduate and postgraduate students worldwide. Its editors set out to offer a readable text marketed at the middle ground between introductory works and the standard reference books. This they achieved with unrivalled success. However, by the fifteenth edition, 'Davidson' was starting to show its age. Therefore, with the advent of monthly 'add on' textbooks and two new British works clearly aimed at the same readership, a major revision was overdue.In response to this challenge, the new team of editors has produced a sixteenth edition which has been updated and extensively rewritten with two new chapters, the inclusion of many more figures and photographs and the now obligatory information boxes and summaries. The new text maintains Davidson's reputation for 'readability' and the new figures are clear and well annotated. The increased emphasis on the practical issues of the management ofdisease is to be welcomed but whether it is sufficiently detailed in most instances to fulfil the claim that this edition of Davidson is a 'usable manual on the management of disease' is debatable. Also the quality of the reproduction of radiographs is poor and it is surprising that the publishers did not learn from their rivals that the use of a limited range of colours can vastly improve the presentation of such a book.Despite these reservations, this new edition of an old friend is to be welcomed and the extent ofits updating and revision means that it should be acquired by all medical libraries, but it will face stiffcompetition in the bookshops from similarly priced texts.The American translation of this standard German textbook -already in its third edition -has come across very well and will be useful for both novices and experienced practitioners in the field of regional anaesthesia. The chapters on pharmacology, advantages over general anaesthesia and the applications of regional anaesthesia are well written and comprehensive. Two hundred and thirty pages ofexcellent colour plates follow that demonstrate a very complete range of nerve blocks both for anaesthesia and pain relief. Each chapter in this section describes the local anatomy, stresses the recommended equipment, the position of the patient, the technique to be followed. Preferred drugs and their common side effects, indications and contra-indications for the block are given. For each nerve block there is a comprehensive list of references although it is to be regretted that many of these remain in their original German. Only one labelling in German of the excellent diagrams, which occurs on page 280 for the facet joint block, seems to have escaped the eagle eye of the editor.Even at the price of£64 this book is of such quality that it should hold its place amongst the reference books and atlases of regional anaesthesia. The authors and the translators are to be congratulated on producing a book that should be in every Anaesthetic Department Library and I would ...

Hypolipidemic effect of dihydroisoquinoline oxaziridine in high-fat diet-fed rats

“…An increase in lipid profiles as a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and associated cardiac disorders has warranted increased focus on the development of novel and more effective anti hyperlipidemic agents [31,32].…”