Textbook of Medical Physiology: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access by Arthur C. Guyton, Arthur C. Guyton, John E. Hall

From the Publisher

Physiology's classic text continues to uphold its rich tradition—presenting key physiology concepts in a remarkably clear and engaging manner. Guyton & Hall's Textbook of Medical Physiology covers all of the major systems in the human body, while emphasizing system interaction, homeostasis, and pathophysiology. This very readable, easy-to-follow, and thoroughly updated, 11th Edition features a new full-color layout, short chapters, clinical vignettes, and shaded summary tables that allow for easy comprehension of the material.


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• Presents short, easy-to-read chapters in keeping with the Guyton and Hall tradition.
  
• Provides shaded summary tables for easy reference.
  
• Includes clinical vignettes, which allow readers to see core concepts applied to real-life situations.
  
• Offers specific discussions of pathophysiology in most clinical areas of medicine.
  
• Ensures a strong grasp of physiology concepts through well-illustrated discussions of the most essential principles.

• Now in full color!
  
• Offers access to the full text and other valuable features online via the STUDENT CONSULT website.
  
• Uses full-color illustrations throughout, including 486 figures, 277charts and graphs, 100 brand-new line drawings, and 36 ECGs.
  
• Features a new full-color design that makes information more engaging and even easier to read.
  
• Updated throughout to reflect the latest knowledge in the field.

Robert W. Teel

This is the tenth revision of a comprehensive and thorough coverage of human physiology. The current edition has evolved over 50 years with only minor refinements appearing in the latest revision. The same number of units and chapters appear in this newest edition as in the previous one, and there are about 80 fewer pages, updated from 1996. This useful format provides an in-depth textbook in medical physiology for students. It can also serve as a useful reference source for teachers and practicing healthcare professionals. The text is appropriate for upper division majors in physiology but is of particular value to medical students and graduate students in physiology. Physiology of the major systems of the human body are covered, with a special emphasis on homeostasis and interaction of systems. Readability continues to be a strength. The index is thorough and very useful. The cardiovascular and renal sections are particularly well done. The section on aviation, space, and deep-sea physiology is a plus. This latest edition is not much different than the previous one. Print may be easier to read and red boxes around figure numbers focuses attention. I had difficulty noting any significant difference in material content; the differences seem mostly cosmetic. I actually prefer the format of the ninth edition. This text still lacks the strength of some other texts where more specialists have authored chapters specific to their areas of expertise. Figures lack the flair of other texts, but understand that this minimizes publication costs.

John G. Wood

This is the ninth edition of a highly successful textbook of medical physiology, in which physiological concepts are described in a comprehensive, organized manner from the cellular level to integrated systems. . According to the authors, the goals are to emphasize integrated physiology and homeostatic mechanisms and be as accurate as possible. These are clearly worthy objectives, and I believe this is a valuable resource for teaching medical physiology. In general, the book adequately fulfills the authors' objectives. The authors indicate that it is written primarily for medical students, and I agree. They are highly respected physiologists who have made many significant contributions to this field. I found very few (if any) new figures in the chapters on the gastrointestinal system, compared with the previous edition. The references have been updated in the gastrointestinal sections, but I found few changes in the text of this revision. Based upon close reading of the chapters of the gastrointestinal system, there appears to have been little revision of the text in this version. Recent references have been added to the chapters, yet I did not find this material to have been incorporated into the text. Although the book is overall of high quality, I did not see sufficient changes to justify the purchase of this revision.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: John G. Wood, PhD (University of Kansas Medical Center)
Description: This is the ninth edition of a highly successful textbook of medical physiology, in which physiological concepts are described in a comprehensive, organized manner from the cellular level to integrated systems. .
Purpose: According to the authors, the goals are to emphasize integrated physiology and homeostatic mechanisms and be as accurate as possible. These are clearly worthy objectives, and I believe this is a valuable resource for teaching medical physiology. In general, the book adequately fulfills the authors' objectives.
Audience: The authors indicate that it is written primarily for medical students, and I agree. They are highly respected physiologists who have made many significant contributions to this field.
Features: I found very few (if any) new figures in the chapters on the gastrointestinal system, compared with the previous edition. The references have been updated in the gastrointestinal sections, but I found few changes in the text of this revision.
Assessment: Based upon close reading of the chapters of the gastrointestinal system, there appears to have been little revision of the text in this version. Recent references have been added to the chapters, yet I did not find this material to have been incorporated into the text. Although the book is overall of high quality, I did not see sufficient changes to justify the purchase of this revision.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

Most important, many new techniques for learning about cellular and molecular physiology have been developed recently. Therefore, more and more can we present physiologic principles in the terminology of molecular and physical science rather than merely as a series of separate unexplained biological phenomena. This change we all welcome, but it also makes revision of almost every section of each chapter a necessity.

To help in this job of revision, Dr. John Hall joined as coauthor in preparing the ninth edition of the Textbook of Medical Physiology. In the tenth edition he has doubled the number of chapters for which he is primarily responsible.

The two of us, Drs. Guyton and Hall, have worked very closely together for more than 25 years, so it has been possible to maintain a unified organization of the text that is especially useful to students, yet at the same time keeps the book comprehensive enough that students will wish to use it in later life as a basis for professional careers. As can be expected, Dr. Hall has brought many new insights and new bodies of knowledge that have helped immensely in achieving these goals.

The beauty of studying human physiology is that it integrates the individual functions of all the body's different organs and cells into a functional whole, the human body. Indeed, life relies uponthis total function, not on function of individual body parts in isolation from the others.

This brings us to another subject: How are the separate organs and systems controlled so that no one overfunctions while others fail to do their share? Fortunately, our bodies are endowed with a vast network of feedback controls that achieve the necessary balances without which we would not be able to live. Physiologists call this high level of internal bodily control homeostasis. In disease states, functional balances are often seriously disturbed-that is, homeostasis becomes very poor. And, when even a single disturbance reaches a limit, the whole body can no longer live. Therefore, one of the principal goals of any medical physiology text is to emphasize the effectiveness and beauty of the body's homeostasis mechanisms as well as to present their abnormal function in disease.

Another goal of this text is to be as accurate as possible. Suggestions and critiques from many physiologists, students, and clinicians throughout the world have been sought and then used for checking factual accuracy as well as balance in the text. Even so, because of the likelihood of error in sorting through thousands of bits of information, we wish to issue still a further invitation-in fact, much more than merely an invitation, actually a request-to all readers to send along notations of error or inaccuracy. Indeed, physiologists perhaps as much as any other scholars understand how important feedback is to proper function of the human body; so, too, is feedback important for progressive development of a textbook of physiology. To those many persons who have already helped, we send our sincerest thanks.

A word of explanation is needed about two features of the text-first, the references, and second, the two print sizes. The sources referenced have been chosen primarily for their presentation of physiologic principles and for the quality of their own references. Use of these, as well as cross-references from them, can give the student almost complete coverage of the entire field of physiology.

The print is set in two sizes. The material in small print is of several different kinds: first, anatomical, chemical, and other information that is needed for immediate discussion but that most students will learn in more detail in other courses; second, physiologic information of special importance to certain fields of clinical medicine; and, third, information that will be of value to those students who may wish to study particular physiologic mechanisms more deeply.

In contrast, the material in large print constitutes the fundamental physiologic information that students will require in virtually all their medical activities and studies.

Again, we wish to express our deepest appreciation to many other persons who have helped in preparing this book. We are particularly grateful to Ivadelle Osberg Heidke, Gwendolyn Harris, and Gerry McAlpin for their excellent secretarial services; to Tomika Mita, Michael Schenk, Angela Gardner, and Myriam Kirkman for their superb work and helpfulness with the illustrations; and to the staff of W.B. Saunders Company for continued editorial and production excellence.

Arthus C. Guyton

John E. Hall