Pharmacology

This edition of Pharmacology has been thoroughly revised and updated to conform to the recommendations of the MCI regarding the teaching of pharmacology, and to include the latest developments in pharmacology and drug treatment modalities. Special emphasis has been laid on ‘essential and commonly used drugs’. WHO and national government recommendations in the drug treatment of prevalent problematic but preventable and treatable diseases responsible for wide scale morbidity and mortality, common poisonings, addictions and rational use of drugs in special situations, e.g. pregnancy, lactation, infancy and old age and in the presence of hepatic and renal dysfunction. Rational Use of Drugs (RUD) and Essential Drugs Programme (EDP) have been discussed, and their importance has been emphasized. Government of India’s Essential Drug List (EDL) has been included. A chapter on ‘Clinical Pharmacology and Prescription Writing’ has been added. In order to make the textbook a major source of information within the broad area of pharmacology, the following topics find a special place: mechanism of drug action at cellular and molecular levels, free radicals, drug-drug interactions, pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics, lipoprotein metabolism, autocoids, AIDS, toxicology of environmental pollutants and treatment of poisonings. A synthesis has been created between basic tenets of the subject and clinical applications. Significant revisions in this edition also include: Chemotherapy including cancer chemotherapy, epilepsy, COX-inhibitors, immunopharmacology, acid-peptic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes, male erectile dysfunction, endothelins, nitric oxide, gene therapy, hypertension, heart failure and calcium channel blockers. Table of Contents * Introduction, * General Pharmacology, * Autonomic Nervous System * Autacoids, Free Radicals and Nitric Oxide * Drugs Acting on the Kidney, Cardiovascular System, Haemopoietic System * Central Nervous System, Respiratory System * Gastrointestinal Tract, Endocrine System * Immunopharmacology. Chemotherapy, Dermatologic Pharmacology * Rational Use of Drugs and Essential Drugs Programme * Geriatric * Paediatric and Perinatal Pharmacology * Rational Therapy in Presence of Renal and Hepatic Dysfunction * Drug-Drug Interactions * Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics * Toxicology * Clinical Pharmacology and Prescription Writing