by Trevor Stone, Gail Darlington
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| List Price: | $19.95 |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $19.95 |
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Product Description
About half of all the medicines prescribed by doctors are not taken by their patients. One of the reasons most commonly given by patients for not taking drugs is that they feel unhappy about taking medicines which they do not understand and of which they are afraid. This book attempts to rectify this problem by showing in clear, non-technical language how medicines and other drugs work in the body to reduce the effects of disease. Most chapters include fascinating background information on how some of our most important drugs were discovered, along with intriguing and often amusing anecdotes about the drugs and the people behind their discovery. Each chapter also includes a summary of the key points together with illustrations, photographs or diagrams to summarise the main groups and how they work in the body. The book covers all the major groups of drugs, with complete listings of all the drugs available in the UK and the USA, so that the reader can locate his or her specific drug and read about the actions of the drugs in that group. The various chapters cover drugs used to treat high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, ulcers, cancers, infections, impotence, incontinence, arthritis, osteoporosis, as well as hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptives and drugs used in disorders of the brain such as schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. There is also a chapter on drugs which are abused such as cannabis, alcohol, nicotine and ecstasy, and a chapter covering some of the poisons we encounter, such as carbon monoxide, arsenic, sheep dip, and the venoms of snakes, spiders, scorpions and marine organisms. Here, then, a fascinating survey of how chemicals have their effects in the body. It shows how drugs work and explains why it is that taking some medicines for many years is far safer than suffering the long-term effects of disease. Pills, Potions and Poisons is an entertaining read that should also help to improve your health and quality of life.
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 recommended despite some criticism, 2006-04-09
Written in a very user friendly style, there is a lot of good information in Pills, Potions and Poisons:How Drugs Work. I did enjoy reading the book, however I felt like it was oversimplified too much. I found the passages on molecular biology digested to the point of being potentially misleading, and it made me wonder if the authors really understood what they were talking about. I don't know enough about many of the diseases to criticize the coverage, but I do know about diabetes and the description in this book is much less comprehensive and up to date than I would have hoped for. I believe that most people who are willing to read an entire book that treats pharmacology in a popular science style will expect more details than are offered here. That being said, the authors writing style is very engaging, and they really do a great job of making this potentially dry material very interesting. The historical facts scattered throughout the book were particularly interesting, and the book is worth reading even for those alone. The bottom line is that I did learn quite a bit from the book, and I enjoyed reading it. It could certainly stand some improvements, but I don't know of a better overview of pharmacology written in a user-friendly popular science style. I recommend it to those interested in learning about how drugs work.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Learn more about how drugs work, 2005-09-07
This is an excellent book for understanding more about many common prescription drugs that are available. It goes into the chemistry of the human body and the drugs in a very reader friendly way. Written for the consumer not the physician.
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