Posture and Pain. By Henry O. Kendall, Director, Physical Therapy Brain Tumors of Childhood. By Henry M. Cuneo. M.D.
, Assistant
Department, Florence P. Kendall, Assistant Director, Physical Therapy
Department, and Dorothy A. Boynton, Physical Therapist, Physical
Therapy Department, Children's Hospital School, Baltimore. Cloth. $7.
Pp. 204, with 159 illustrations. Williams & Wilkins Company, Mount
Royal and Guilford Aves., Baltimore 2, 1952.
The relation of faulty posture to the production of pain, as
presented in this book, is based on the authors' many years of
experience as physical therapists in the physical therapy depart-
ment at Children's Hospital School in Baltimore.
The book deserves special commendation for its attractive
format and excellent illustrations. The first chapter considers
standard posture, which, according to the text, refers to an "ideal"
posture rather than an average posture. It is further indicated
in the text that "the authors have not seen an individual who
matches the standard in all respects." The second chapter, which
is about postural faults, considers deviations from this "stand-
ard." It seems peculiar that deviations from a "standard" that
has not been observed to exist should be considered as postural
faults. It would seem more proper that postural faults be con-
sidered as deviations from an acceptable average posture.
The third, fourth, and fifth chapters contain a simple yet prac-
tical analysis of muscle action and imbalance as related to faulty
posture. The importance of muscle strength and tightness or loss
of extensibility as a contributing factor to poor posture is dis¬
cussed. A systematic and practical procedure for posture analysis
is discussed in the sixth chapter. In the section of the text on
the treatment of faulty posture and pain associated with faulty
body mechanics this statement is most properly included: "In
discussing pain in relation to postural faults, there are those,
however, who are dubious. They often ask the very pertinent
question why it is that many cases of faulty posture exist with¬
out symptoms of pain. They also question why seemingly mild
postural defects give rise to symptoms of mechanical and muscu¬
lar strain." There follows a logical discussion of this contro¬
versial subject. The opinions expressed in the text are worthy
of consideration, even though some physicians may not agree.
The physician may find many of the suggestions regarding the
use of various physical therapeutic agents useful in prescribing
physical therapy and supports for the treatment or prevention
of faulty posture and the treatment of painful conditions of the
neck, back, and extremities.
Infant Development: The Embryology of Early Human Behavior. By
Arnold Gesell, M.D. Cloth. $3.50. Pp. 108, with illustrations. Harper &
Brothers, 49 E. 33rd St., New York 16, 1952.
This book is beneficial to pediatricians and others confronted
with the evaluation of physical and mental development of
infants and children. This volume presents an informal orienta-
tive introduction to growth and forms of behavior at advancing
maturity levels from birth to the 10th year. It attempts to show
that there is a significant continuity of functional and physical
development in both the prenatal and postnatal phases of human
growth. A study of premature infants throws light on growth
changes that ordinarily take place in the prenatal period. There
is a discussion of comparative anatomy in lower animals em-
phasizing the embryonal development of the eyes and eye and
hand behavior. A pictorial chapter has 50 photographs from
their feature length film "The Embryology of Human Be-
havior" to demonstrate the progression of the growth cycle.
These excellent action photographs clearly illustrate develop-
mental patterns at various age levels. A chapter on examination
methods and diagnostic procedures helps one to evaluate both
the normal and abnormal child. An appendix includes sketches
and charts of growth patterns of the 28-week-old infant, a bibli¬
ography, and a list of silent and sound movies by the Yale
Films of Child Development.
The reviews here published have been prepared by competent authorities
and do not represent the opinions of any official bodies unless specifically
stated.
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Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery, University of Southern Cali-
fornia, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, and Carl W. Rand, M.D.,
Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery, University of Southern Cali-
fornia, School of Medicine. Publication number 104, American Lecture
Series, monograph in Americal Lectures in Surgery, edited by Michael E.
De Bakey, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Chairman of Department of
Surgery, Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, and R. Glen
Spurling, M.D., Clinical Professor of Surgery, University of Louisville,
Louisville, Ky. Neurosurgical Division, editor: Barnes Woodhall, M.D.,
Professor of Neurosurgery, Duke Hospital, Durham. Cloth. $5.75. Pp.
224, with 61 illustrations. Charles C Thomas, Publisher, 301-327 E.
Lawrence Ave., Springfield, Ill.; Blackwell Scientific Publications, Ltd.,
49 Broad St., Oxford, England; Ryerson Press, 299 Queen St., W.,
Toronto 2B, 1952.
This compact volume is in the American lecture series. In it,
the authors summarize their experiences with brain tumors in
children at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles during the
past decade. Eighty-three verified cases of brain tumor and/or
granulomatous lesions resembling tumors are discussed.
Each of the first 12 chapters is devoted to one pathological
type of tumor. In the final chapter, the authors discuss the gen-
eral symptomatology and differential diagnosis of these lesions
as they occur in childhood. A brief quotation from some authority
in this field at the beginning of each chapter sets the stage for
the discussion that follows. A few case reports are included; these
are brief and to the point, with excellent illustrations. Selected
references, mostly in English, are given at the end of each
chapter.
The authors' experiences with cerebellar astrocytoma and
medulloblastoma emphasize the importance of biopsy and histo-
logical verification of the tumor type before administration of
x-ray therapy. The failure of ventricular estimation to differ-
entiate between cerebellar and third ventricle tumors is properly
emphasized and leads the authors to advise routine ven¬
triculography for children who have symptoms of posterior fossa
tumors.
One wonders at the inclusion of cases of spongioblastoma
polare in the chapter on glioblastoma multiforme rather than in
the chapter on astrocytoma, a tumor with which it is more closely
related. This minor pathological point is compensated for by the
inclusion of discussion of the granulomatous lesions, not ordi¬
narily considered under the heading of brain tumors in child¬
hood.
The
similarity of their results with those reported in the mono¬
graph by Bailey, Buchanan, and Buey in 1939, emphasizes the
enormity of the therapeutic problems. This review will be espe¬
cially valuable to pediatricians and to neurologists and neuro-
surgeons who do not see many patients in this age group; how¬
ever, it can be read with profit by all physicians who are interested
in neoplastic diseases of the brain.
A Review of Nursing with Outlines of Subjects: Questions and Answers.
By Helen F. Hansen, R.N., M.A., Inspector, Schools of Nursing, State
Department of Public Health, California, Sacramento. Seventh edition.
Cloth. $5.75. Pp. 844. W. B. Saunders Company, 218 W. Washington Sq.,
Philadelphia 5; 7 Grape St., Shaftesbury Ave., London, W.C.2, 1952.
The author of this review of nursing has extensive experience
in educational administration. Her positions as chief at the
bureau of registration of nurses in California and executive sec-
retary of the board of nurse examiners in California were ex-
cellent background for the preparation of this book.
The material is presented in outline form, and each section
is followed by a battery of tests on the preceding subject. Cor-
rect answers to these tests are found at the back of the book.
In this edition, the author has attempted to include more com-
prehensive situation type questions to stimulate additional read-
ing. True-false and completion type questions have been reduced
in number.
The fields covered are chemistry, anatomy, and physiology,
psychology, nutrition, public health, pharmacology, and thera-