Pills, Potions, and Poisons: How Drugs Work (Popular Science) - Softcover

Stone, Trevor; Darlington, Gail

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198609426 ISBN 13: 9780198609421

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Trevor Stone is Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Glasgow. He has published 400 scientific papers. L. Gail Darlington is Consultant Physician and Rheumatologist at the Epsom General Hospital.

Review

`Review from previous edition Pills, Potions and Poisons...serves as an excellent introduction to the biological effects of drugs.'
New Statesman, 2002

`Review from previous edition Pills, Potions and Poisons . . . serves as an excellent introduction to the biological effects of drugs.'
New Statesman

`this illustrated book can be highly effective at easing alarm and stimulating curiosity.'
Tim Radford, The Guardian (Life)

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0198609426
• ISBN 13: 9780198609421
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 492