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Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 42, No. 5, September-October, 2010, pp. 332 Book Review Practical Manual of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology Mira Desai, Chetna Desai Executive Editors, Indian Journal of Pharmacology, India Correspondence Address: Mira Desai, Executive Editors, Indian Journal of Pharmacology India, ijp@ijp-online.com Code Number: ph10098 Bikash Medhi and Ajay Prakash Publishers: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd., 1 st edn., 2010, ISBN 978-81-8448-953-8, pp 374 The educational objectives and hence the curriculum in Pharmacology have undergone sea changes in the past few years; most of these changes were governed by the need to make the curriculum suitable for the contemporary needs. Despite a greater emphasis on clinical pharmacology, the practicals in experimental (animal) pharmacology continue to retain their importance at least for the postgraduate training in the subject. The past few years have seen many books published that dealt with the theoretical aspects in pharmacology, a need has always been felt for a manual for postgraduates that meets the current needs and relevance. The Practical Manual of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology by Biksah Medhi and Ajay Praksah is a commendable attempt in this direction. The authors have succeeded in providing a comprehensive information on broad range of topics on animal and clinical experiments including recent advances. Topics in analytical pharmacology, toxicology, cell culture, translational pharmacology, and thesis writing have also been included, albeit in a cursory manner. Most experiments described herein are doable in the laboratory and hospital settings of most medical and pharmacy colleges in India. A well-written book that begins from the history of pharmacology, goes on to discuss the basics of the day-to-day activities in the laboratory and gradually moves toward the modern concepts and techniques. Each of the topics has been well classified, and dealt with a marked degree of conciseness and brevity without compromising on the necessity for details; particularly for the core topics. The high point of this book is the judicious and intelligent use of photographs and illustrations that are aimed to catch the learner′s interest and enhance the retention of information. A stepwise approach of description along with flow charts, figures, and the highlights contained in a box facilitates a better understanding. Clinical pharmacokinetics and experiments on respiratory, cardiovascular, and central nervous system are special features of this book. The description of instruments and techniques will not only impart the skill to the postgraduates, but will also help the upcoming departments to set up their clinical pharmacology laboratories. The book does suffer from brevity at times, but this is compensated by "suggested readings" at the end of each chapter. Minor spelling mistakes are there that can be corrected in the future editions. Topics like drug utilization studies, pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, prescription audit, rational prescribing, use of statistical softwares, and certain teaching learning methods may also be given their due place in the book. Overall, this book promises to be of an immense use for the postgraduate students and teachers in pharmacology. It will also prove to be a good addition to the libraries of medical and pharmacy colleges. Copyright 2010 - Indian Journal of Pharmacology |
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