A Course in Practical Therapeutics [antikvár]

PREFACE TO TIIE SECOND EDITION We are grateful to the medical publio for their reception of the first edition of this book. In the short time since PRACTICAL THERAPEUTICS first ap-peared, new remedies and new methods have been offered to the medical profession. The wave of en-thusiasm for antibiotics has provided us with several of outstanding merit and others that offer promise. Increasing attention is being paid to such problems as drug sensitivity, bacterial resistance, and the impor-tance of making, where possible, an exact etiologic diagnosis. We have used the visual system wherever possible for teaching purposes and believe that one well chosen illustration is worth a thousand words. In this edition, we have introdueed additional illus-trations to amplify the text. Ali through the volume, we have added new material, always attempting to re-tain the essential formát of the first edition. This volume was the outcome of our course in Clinical Therapeutics. It seems to have been of the greatest value to the generál practitioner. We have not de-parted from the schematic method of portraying each step in the treatment of disease. We have left the arrangement of the book as it was originally presented. The first section is devoted to an elementary presenta-tion of those subjects which we believe are important in the treatment of disease. We insist that the student be familiar with this section, because the principles developed there are appiicable to the generál manage-ment of the patient. Perhaps we shall be accused of emphasizing prescription writing, but the notorious lack of interest in this subject is due to the fact that many are not familiar with its potentialities. We believe that the student, like the artist, should begin by using a simple palette, but there is no reason after he has mastered the rudiments that he should not add as many preparations to his armamentarium as he can successfully manage. We feel the need for emphasis on this subject and in this edition, we have tried to write all formulas in English. If the student will simply digest this first section and extract the sub-stance out of it, he will go a long way to sailing his ovvn craft. The second section we believe is alsó fundamental for two reasons. First and foremost the physician must be familiar with the differential diagnosis of a symptom as well as a disease. Too often he must think fast and his abilities to visualize the possibilities of any given symptom and to apply an appropriate remedy are obvious. Secondly, every physician should know symptomatic medication. Almost every day the generál practitioner is called upon to exercise his knowl- edge and judgment in symptomatic therapy. This does not preclude accurate diagnosis and specific treatment. It rather enables us to gain time to make a more complete diagnostic survey. Furthermore it follows one of our most cherished rules, and that is, do something for the patient. The third section on disease scarcely needs any ex-planation. It attempts to cover the great body of internál medicine with the exception of the nervous system in more or less specific fashion. We mention somé of the methods employed by the neurologist and psychiatrist, but the detailed description, differential diagnosis, and treatment of nervous disease is beyond the province of this book. We have contented our-selves with a brief resumé of this subject. The final section of the book is devoted to those specialties in medicine and therapeutics which are of value to the student and practitioner. We have selected those which seemed to be most valuable, and those which were most constantly in use. No attempt has been made to elaborate on these suggestions. We have rather attempted to reduce them to the simplest possible terms. Throughout this book, we have called attention to many proprietary preparations of outstanding merit. Our students are taught U.S.P., N.F. and even the newer remedies accepted by the Council on Pharmacy of the American Medical Association. We teach them to write their prescriptions using wherever possible these remedies. Regarding the use of proprietary preparations, we mention those which seem to be of value for several reasons. Students frequently request the composition and indications of proprietary remedies in common usage. Furthermore, many of these com-panies are engaged in research of outstanding importance to the medical profession. To ignore these contribu-tions is to deprive ourselves of somé remedies which undoubtedly have usefulness and value. Once again, we must deplore the confusion which arises regarding the trade names of many standard drugs, notably digitális, penicillin, estrogens, et cetera. We have tried to make it apparent that our students could get along with fewer remedies. Most practi-tioners become thoroughly familiar with those standard remedies which appear in the U.S.P. and N.F. A knowledge of these preparations is excellent for meeting any situation. Later, he may find other preparations to his liking. But he must realize that therapeutics, like any other art or science, demands that the student master the fundamentals before he branches out in special procedures.