REVIEW: Clinical Pharmacology made Incredibly Easy!

The book that explains in English how and why drugs work!  
       

In Our Forum "All of these meds work by binding to a receptor site. The meds we take today work on neurotransmission. A single nuerotransmitter can trigger different responses in a cell. Sometimes you want to inhibit the reaction and other times you want to enhance it. You do this by administering meds which make molecular changes on the cell that has been fired upon (by the firing neuron: big terms = pre and post synaptic cells with the synapse being the gap they have to travel trough to reach the next cell)..." Join the discussion     Related Resources • Drug Terminology — What the...? • Headache Glossary    Free Newsletter Email Address Subscribe to: BEATING HEADACHES Email Newsletter

Publisher: Springhouse Publishing
ISBN: 1-58255-042-5
In stock at Barnes & Noble
            

More and more, we're working with our doctors as part of our own health care teams. We want to understand our medications — not only what they do, but also at least a bit about how and why they work. For most of us, the standard medical explanations might as well be in a foreign language for all we get from them. I've found it somewhat like trying to read something in French. I studied French in high school, so I'd be able to read portions, but there would be words and phrases that I didn't understand, so I'd get little from it. 

Clinical Pharmacology made Incredibly Easy! has come to my rescue. It is written clearly, concisely, and in terms that are understandable. While the tone is kept light, it is packed with information that makes it a superlative reference book.

Clinical Pharmacology... begins with a chapter on the fundamentals: 

• pharmacology basics
• methods by which drugs are administered
• key concepts of pharmacokinetics
• key concepts of pharmacodynamics
• key concepts of pharmacotherapeutics
  (AND those terms are explained)
• key typed of drug interactions and adverse reactions.

Following that, are chapters dealing with:

• Autonomic nervous system drugs
• Neurologic and neuromuscular drugs
• Pain medications
• Cardiovascular drugs
• Hematologic drugs
• Respiratory drugs
• Gastrointestinal drugs
• Anti-infective drugs
• Anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-allergy drugs, and immunosuppressants
• Psychiatric drugs
• Endocrine drugs
• Drugs for fluid and electrolyte balance
• Cancer drugs
• Appendix A: Common herbal preparations and their drug interactions
• Appendix B: Other major drugs

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There are several characters and mechanisms employed to both organize the material and highlight important information.

• Each chapter begins with Just the facts to give readers an overview of what will be covered in the chapter.
• At the end of each chapter is a quick quiz that helps evaluate how well you've assimilated the information.
• Nurse Joy appears in the margins to emphasize important points in the text.
  • Example: "A drug with a long half-life can take days to reach therapeutic blood levels."
• Interesting information about how drugs originated, possible drugs of the future, and more appear in Pharm Facts sections.
  • Example: "Putting a new stress on sertraline. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved sertraline hydrochloride (Zoloft) as the first drug for treating posttraumatic stress disorder..."
• Now I get it! sections are well used to explain more complicated issues and concepts, often with excellent illustrations and charts.
  • Example: Section explaining and graphically demonstrating the dose-response curve.
• When a drug being discussed is likely to have particular effects on certain organs/systems or the organs/systems affect the drug's actions, characters such as Mr. Heart, Mr. Neuron, and Mr. Liver appear in the margins with pertinent notes.
  • Example, Mr. Liver: "If I'm not working right, a drug doesn't get metabolized normally."
  • Example, Mr. Neuron: "Adrenergic blocking agents block stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system."
  • Example, Mr. Heart: "Stimulate beta receptors, and I'm likely to speed up."
• Memory joggers are very effectively used to stress important points.
  • Example: "When a drug is said to be potentiated by another drug, the results are more potent — the drug goes beyond its original potential."
• Uh Oh Warning boxes ...........
  • Example: Adverse reactions to cholinergic agonists.
• In areas where information is discussed about which there may be disagreement within the medical community, Clinical controversy boxes provide pertinent information.
  • Example: Are beta-adrenergic blockers underused in the elderly?

If you're looking for a rescue from the confusion of what Drug X does, how, and why, Clinical Pharmacology mad Incredibly Easy would make a wonderful addition to your library. Light in tone, yet never lacking in content, its style lends itself well to those of us who want to know more.

             

 

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