Biochemistry for Medical Students

The decision of the author not to present an historical development of the subject matter could have been compensated for by a more comprehensive list of sources relevant to the historical background. This might well have included other than American and English sources. Despite this, the text can be highly recommended. The title of the book reveals its purpose and nature. It is written for medical students who shun the more complete and heavier tomes of biochemistry and disdain outlines of the subject that read like telephone directories. In short, it is a clear and well-written introduction to biochemistry. Worthy attempts are made to correlate material, to provide clinical examples , and to make the subject as palatable and interesting as possible to medical students, yet conserving a modicum of experimental work. This fifth edition differs substantially from the fourth. The chapters on metabolism have been largely rewritten "in order to place the tricarboxylic acid cycle in proper perspective as the final metabolic pathway common to amino acids, carbohydrates and fats." Other chapters also have been revised and rewritten. The book is well organized. A preliminary review of some physicochemi-cal principles, encompassing a good discussion of the colloidal state, precedes classification of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and the chapters on enzymes and blood. Part two, concerning metabolism, the role of vitamins and hormones in metabolism, etc., is preceded by a discussion of digestion and absorption and a chapter on the use of isotopes in biochemical investigation. Part three pertains to principles of nutrition and a more than adequate treatment on the nature and composition of common foods. No references are given, which is unfortunate when controversial statements are proffered without amplification, such as "the treatment of cases of human muscular dystrophy with the vitamin [E] has met with some success particularly in children, although the recovery is very much slower than with animals" (page 381); or, "the beneficial effects of glutamic acid given in mental diseases have been attributed to activation of choline acetylase" (page 192). A useful bibliography of textbooks, monographs, and special articles of interest is to be found in the appendix.