Women's Health in Clinical Practice: A Handbook for Primary Care
Author: Amy Lynn Clous
Traditionally, women's health has been synonymous with obstetrics and gynecology. With the exception of Family Medicine physicians who are trained in obstetric and gynecologic issues, most primary care physicians have received little training in reproductive health issues even though they care for women and girls. In recent years, there has been growing recognition that sex differences do exist between the organ systems of women and men, and research about male and female physiologic differences has bolstered the growing body of knowledge about sex differences. Women's Health: A Handbook for Primary Care presents the most recent changes in current research and provides the reader with an easily accessible reference to common women's health issues. The topics in this text range from health problems that largely affect only women, like cervical cancer and breast disease, to health problems that present differently in women than in men, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Chapters on polycystic ovary syndrome and oral health issues address health problems that bring together multiple organ systems including reproductive, cardiovascular and dental health. There are also useful chapters not typically found in primary care texts like eating disorders, interpersonal violence and sexual health. Women's Health: A Handbook for Primary Care is succinct, well organized, and contains easily understood, practical information for the most common health problems seen in women. This volume is a valuable text for anyone who practices primary care medicine.
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Reviewer:Rita Duboyce, MD(Office of the Air Force Surgeon General)
Description:This book is designed to aid primary care providers in meeting the healthcare needs of their female patients. It covers reproductive, cardiovascular, endocrine, and dental problems and issues as they relate to women's health.
Purpose:This is needed with the advances in medicine and technology as well as gender equality. Research involving women's health has contributed to the growing knowledge and recognition of the physiological differences between the sexes.
Audience:The audience is primary care physicians who have received minimal training in obstetric and gynecological issues but treat women and girls. It would also be useful for physicians who need a refresher or a good clinic reference or even for residents in a primary care rotation. The authors have extensively researched and referenced the material and have employed the services of experts in their respective areas of women's health to write the chapters.
Features:The authors discuss in detail women's reproductive issues from oral contraceptive use to the treatment of menopause and its associated symptoms. Heart disease and diabetes are also covered with an emphasis on prevention and pharmacological therapy. The authors also discuss such psychological issues as premenstrual dysphoric syndrome and eating disorders. Differential diagnoses are included as well as charts on the staging of cancer. A few photos demonstrate the effects of various health issues on dentition.
Assessment:With its clear and succinct, text, this is indeed a useful reference on women's healthissues to have in the office. It is also a good refresher for those physicians who have been out of residency for a while.
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Nutrient, Drug Interactions
Author: Kelly Anne Meckling
Current research has given us a more complete understanding of how the chemicals in foods and herbs interact with natural and synthetic drugs. In some cases a single food or supplement can profoundly increase or decrease the toxicity and/or efficacy of a single drug. Although it is standard practice to examine the effects of food consumption on the absorption and pharmacokinetics of new drugs, the issue has become greater than "should this medicine be taken with or without food." Nutrient-Drug Interactions focuses on food, herbals, and their chemical constituents as contributors to human health through control of metabolism, primarily as they relate to chronic disease development and treatment. The book's organization highlights the ailment being treated or prevented and the targets of therapy. Each chapter provides a comprehensive examination of the macronutrient, micronutrient, and phytochemical impact on drug action and includes advice on modification or supplementation in those cases where diet is a factor. The chapters focus on the molecular mechanism by which a food or chemical is thought to modify disease process and drug behavior. The book describes the roles of genetic variation and polymorphism in determining nutrient/drug responses, how they might be "profiled" to identify those likely to demonstrate specific interactions, and who would benefit from adjuvant or complementary therapies. The book explores how what is consumed affects response, whether on a population or individual level, to the pharmacologic agents that are the mainstay of chronic disease treatment/prevention around the world.
Doody Review Services
Reviewer: Paul R Hutson, Pharm.D., M.S.(University of Wisconsin)
Description: This book provides an up-to-date summary of disease-based pathobiology and the mechanism of drug classes currently used in each disease. In this context, the chapters then introduce nutrients or dietary supplements that may enhance or attenuate the effect of the drugs.
Purpose: The editor's purpose is to present evidence-based summaries of the effects of food and herbals upon commonly used drugs. This is a timely and useful objective, as there is a burgeoning amount of new information on disease processes, pharmacologic mechanisms, and in vitro and clinical effects of dietary supplements. This book is helpful in providing a mechanistic understanding of how drug-nutrient interactions might be expected, or have been proven to occur. Different chapter authors provide varying degrees of interpretation of the magnitude and clinical impact of these interactions.
Audience: The book is clearly written and provides sufficient background to allow students and practitioners alike to understand the mechanisms of the interactions. The limited detail of clinical study results or of their clinical implications limits the utility of the book to practicing physicians, pharmacists, and dieticians. However, it does provide extremely useful distillations by experts in their fields that will be appreciated by those seeking a mechanistic understanding of drug-supplement interactions that will guide their clinical decisions.
Features: The topics covered in this book reflect the diseases for which the public most commonly uses dietary supplements. These includecancer treatment and prevention, dyslipidemias, and neurodegenerative or psychiatric disorders. In addition, useful chapters cover interactions with anesthetic agents, and gene expression effects that may have clinical relevance. There are limited figures, and none are in color. Additional figures to illustrate biochemical pathways would be helpful, as would tables to summarize the magnitude of any effects noted in pivotal clinical trials of the supplements considered.
Assessment: This book is well written and provides a mechanistic understanding of the known or likely effects of components found in common dietary supplements as they relate to the functioning of major drug classes. While the scope of the book excludes consideration of some dietary supplements such as CoQ10 or glucosamine, the book does provide an extremely helpful framework by which the effects and interactions of drugs and nutrients can be understood. In this regard, it is more helpful in providing a mechanistic understanding than other books and references such as the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 8th edition (Pharmacists Letter, 2005), or Drug Facts and Comparisons 2006, 60th edition (Wolters Kluwer Health, 2005).
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