Blue Poppy Press

Biomedicine; a textbook for practitioners of acupuncture & oriental medicine.

Dr. Robinson had a 30-year career as physician and surgeon before "retiring" and devoting more time to his passion for bringing together Western and Oriental medical practices. This text is based on a course he designed for students of Oriental medicine as a means of communicating some basic concepts, approaches, and dilemmas and thus affording better interaction with Western medical practitioners. Material is arranged in thematic sections (e.g. infectious diseases, neurology, gastrointestinal, immunology, cancer, women's health, geriatrics, among others), with chapters addressing specific pathologies and sections devoted to clinical scenarios (answers are at the end of the book). Coverage of each topic is not deep, but the author seems to keep in mind the needs and questions of his audience by surveying the basics and including informal commentary in boxed sidebars. A glossary and a bibliography (not classified by subject) are appended. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Integrated pharmacology; combining modern pharmacology with Chinese medicine.

This well-organized volume was written both as a pharmacology text for schools of Oriental medicine and as a reference for practitioners of Oriental medicine. The volume presents western drugs, organized by use, with the entry for each drug containing its generic and brand names, the conditions associated with that drug, how the drug works, and interactions, including a detailed discussion of drug-herb interactions. In discussing conditions and drugs to treat them, selected medical terms are in bold type with a definition helpfully included in the margin. A chapter is included on the provisional Chinese medical descriptions of western drugs by category. Several indexes and a glossary are provided. Sperber is with Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)