CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

UNLIKE most psychiatric textbooks for nurses, usually written by psychiatrists, these revision notes are written by a nurse tutor trained in both general and psychiatric nursing. The approach is problem orientated and the emphasis is on topics of practical value to nurses involved in patient care. A useful series of short selections contains sound advice on how to handle difficult types of patient. A team approach to the management of psychiatric patients is advocated and the functions of the various therapeutic team members are clearly defined. Brief notes are provided about many, though not all, modern developments in patient care. The common psychiatric syndromes are described in note form. A reading list is provided at the end of each section as well as a number of revision questions. The text is clear and concise , though necessarily condensed. Inevitably a number of inaccuracies of fact appear. Nevertheless, this book can be recommended to nurses as a useful short revision text. THIS monograph, which is one of a series on different tonics in medicine, is written by one of the most respected and leading experts in the field of coronary disease. In the preface the author states: "It is the purpose of Coronary Artery Disease to marshal in one place the majority of the available information concerning the current practice of coronary heart disease," and he succeeds not only in doing this, but in presenting it in a concise and interesting fashion. The early chapters cover such topics as methods of investigation, pathogenesis of athero-sclerosis and the anatomy and physiology of the coronary circlulation. Later chanters are devoted to current views on the medical iand surgical treatment of obstructive coronary disease and the material is presented in a well-balanced form. At £13.50 the book is expensive, but it can be strongly recommended to all physicians involved in treating patients with ischaemic heart disease. THE claim on the dust cover of this book states that it is "a full presentation, in accessible and largely non-technical language, of the biological and medical details of rabies, together with a discussion of present policies, in the U.K. and elsewhere, for its prevention and elimination". Eight authors have written seven chapters on different aspects of the rabies problem in man and in animals which do much to substantiate the above claim. However, because of the multiple authorship, some unevenness in style is evident and there is …