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Davidson’s Principles and Practices of Medicine (21st edn) Davidson’s

Principles and Practices of Medicine (21st edn) Edited by Nicki R Colledge ,
Brian R Walker , Stuart H Ralston...

Article in British Journal of Hospital Medicine · February 2011

DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2011.72.2.117

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 Book Reviews

Davidson’s Principles and lent colour pictures ing infected sputum

Practices of Medicine and diagrams and in and there is now a
(21st edn) over 1300 pages, I treatment for liver fail-
Edited by Nicki R Colledge, Brian R could find only 56 ure called liver dialysis.
Walker, Stuart H Ralston errors or omissions. I think the most
Churchill Livingstone Elsevier 2010 I particularly like the important sentence in
Price £46.99. Pp 1376 boxes that pop up the book is one of the
ISBN 978 0 7020 3085 7 throughout each chap- first: ‘The most tech-
This textbook is a systems-, problem- and ter, on evidence-based nically able physician
patient-based approach to the practice of medicine, old age and will fail in the duty of
medicine. Each chapter starts with the pregnancy, delineating care if he or she is
comprehensive and systematic evaluation what evidence there is unable to communi-
of a patient, delineating from head to toe for certain treatments cate effectively with
how to assess and what clinical signs you or how diseases differ in patients or relatives’
may find in such a patient. It is well ref- such populations. It is – a lesson many of us
erenced and recommendations for further telling that diabetes, are still yet to learn.
reading are given, both within and with- aging, palliative care I think this an excel-
out the book. and critical illness now all receive their lent reference text for medical students
The text and format are both topical own chapters. learning the basics, junior doctors revis-
and modern, covering the ethics of per- I learned some fascinating facts, such as ing for membership exams and more
cutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy inser- Escherichia coli 0157 can be found in senior doctors seeking a refresher.
tion, correct hand-washing and ‘brittle’ apple juice, lettuce and radish, anorectal David Warriner, Sheffield University,
diabetes among others. It is full of excel- tuberculosis occurs as a result of swallow- Sheffield

Obesity and
Cardiovascular
Disease
Gianluca Iacobellis
Oxford University Press
2009
Price £ 29.95. Pp 272
ISBN 978 0 19 954932 0
Obesity and Cardiovascular
Disease provides the reader
with a comprehensive
review of the relationship
with obesity and cardio-
vascular disease. It covers
ischaemic heart disease,
hypertension and heart
failure among others.
The sections on pathophysiology cover
the subject well but more importantly for
the working clinician there are also numer-
ous sections with practical advice.
The sections concerning investigations
such as electrocardiography and echocar-
diography are particularly illuminating.
They provide useful tips on performing
these investigations and also suggests novel
areas to look at.
The final chapter on recent trials in
obesity is very helpful; it succinctly cov-
ers all the major trials of recent years and
includes a one line conclusion. This
chapter alone makes this book a valuable
resource to anyone who
is involved in the care of
obese patients. One limi-
tation of this type of
invaluable chapter, how-
ever, is that it makes the
book somewhat time
limited.
This book is likely to
prove popular in North
America where the obesi-
ty epidemic is ahead of
that in the UK but for
any clinician who looks
after this group of
patients it will be a useful
guide and also a good
starting point for people interested in
developing their knowledge of obesity-
related heart disease.
Matthew Thomas, UH Bristol NHS Trust,
Bristol
Best of Five MCQs for
MRCPsych Paper 2
Lena Palaniyappan and Rajeev Krishnadas
Oxford University Press 2009
Price £24.95. Pp 243
ISBN 978 0 19 955212 2
This is a valuable revision aid in prepara-
tion for the MRCPsych 2 written exami-
nation. The contents correspond with the
new Royal College curriculum and ques-
tions cover the entire Paper 2 syllabus,
giving the candidates both relevant and
realistic exam practice.
There is a comprehensive introductory
chapter detailing the syllabus, exam struc-
ture and breakdown of topics covered in
the examination. Useful tips on study
planning, approach to multiple choice
questions and revision are also provided.
Over 450 individual multiple choice ques-
tions are grouped by topic into five mutu-
ally exclusive chapters covering the entire
syllabus in a concise and structured man-
ner. This enables the trainee to focus on
the areas that need the most attention and
quickly master these topics in the actual
exam format.
Each of the multiple choice options are
accompanied by detailed explanations in a
user-friendly presentation to aid revision.
References to relevant review papers,
major studies or textbooks are also given
with each answer which provides opportu-
nity for further reading to broaden under-
standing.
I am delighted to review this question
book which I strongly recommend to any
trainee who is preparing for success in the
part 2 Membership examination.
Anup Mathew, Homerton University
Hospital, London

British Journal of Hospital Medicine, February 2011, Vol 72, No 2 117

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