Book Reviews
Skeletal Muscle Structure, Function, & Plasticity:
The Physiological Basis of Rehabilitation, 2nd Edition.
Richard L. Lieber.
Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2002, 369 pp., illus., index,
$57.00.
ISBN: 0-7817-3061-9.
Introduction. The Second Edition of this popular textbook on the human
musculoskeletal system is specifically designed to provide rehabilitation
professionals with a scientific basis for muscle treatment. The hard-cover
Second Edition constitutes an ambitious and major improvement over the smaller,
soft-cover First Edition. The organization is similar to the First Edition with
Part 1 the foundations of basic science comprised of Chapter 1 devoted to muscle
development and anatomy; Chapter 2 mechanical and physiological properties of
skeletal muscle; and Chapter 3 the interactions among muscles, tendons and
joints. Part 2 contains applications of the basic science concepts. Chapter 4
includes methods of increasing muscle activity through chronic electrical
stimulation, passive stretch, voluntary exercise and surgical transfer and the
effects of increased usage. Chapter 5 clarifies the plasticity of muscle as
exemplified by decreased-use models of immobilization, spinal cord injury,
denervation, and weightlessness. Finally, Chapter 6 closes the book with
descriptions of the cellular and physiological response of muscle to injury and
experimental treatment of muscle disease, including methods for avoiding, or
minimizing injuries.
Purpose. The book is designed specifically for students in the various fields of
physical rehabilitation which would include, physical therapists, rehabilitation
specialists, occupational therapists, athletic trainers, and exercise leaders.
The author displays clearly his ‘love’ for his topic and has made every effort
to focus the book on information this occupational group ‘needs to know’
regarding the areas selected for coverage in the six chapters. Tailoring the
book so specifically to the needs and requirements of physical therapists and
trainers inevitably makes the book somewhat less useful for other groups.
Exercise physiologists and muscle physiologists will find the book useful as an
introductory treatment of skeletal muscle, but will need to move on to more
advanced textbooks for treatments of muscle, myofiber and cross-bridge structure
and function.
Coverage of Topics. For the audience targeted, rehabilitation therapists, the
selection of topics is appropriate, with the exception of the coverage of
embryonic development of skeletal muscle including: myogenesis, synaptogenesis,
mitochondrogenesis, the activation system, and the critical role of satellite
cells in repair. These topics are so critical to a basic understanding of the
subsequent topics ‘degeneration-regeneration,’ ‘denervation-re-innervation’ and
adaptation to use and disuse, that a more thorough coverage would have paid off
dividends through the provision of a better foundation. The author moves on
quickly to a more adequate coverage of the structural characteristics of the
myofibrils, sarcomeres, cross-bridges, myosin isoforms, fiber types and whole
muscles. The handling of the physiology of skeletal muscle is in keeping with
the needs of the students to understand the functional basis for the production
of movement, adaptation to increased and decreased use, and response to impaired
function caused by denervation, disease and contraction-induced injury.
Shortcomings. As with any textbook, errors in omission and commission are
present. Omissions have already been covered in previous sections. Extremely
distracting is the extensive and inappropriate use of the terms ‘eccentric’ and
‘concentric.’ These terms have specific dictionary definitions of ‘off-center’
and ‘on-center’ circles and are used in cardiovascular physiology appropriately
in reference to heart muscle hypertrophy, adaptation, or remodeling (Ahmad &
Spotnitz, Comput Biomed Res 25 201, 1992). Valid criticisms of the use of these
terms as adjectives in reference to the type of muscle contractions go back to
the 1960s (Rodahl et al., Muscle as a Tissue, 1962). Furthermore, ‘eccentric’ is
applied to a number of other conditions, load, stimulation, activation, and
adaptation, that cannot be justified even under the guise of ‘muscle lingo.’
Another error of commission is the inclusion of a number of controversial
findings that have not been validated , or are associated with conflicting
results. Textbooks, particularly for students, should restrict their coverage to
well-proven ‘material.’
Figures and Drawings. Overall, the drawings, photomicrographs and histological,
histochemical, and electron micrographical figures are excellent. The
understanding of so many concepts in skeletal muscle structure and function,
muscle contractions, movement, and adaptation are dependent on the clarity and
visual impact of the images presented. The author has made extremely perceptive
selections of a wide range of visual cues to get critical points across to the
students. At the beginning of the book, the absence of any introductory comments
associated with the five color figures detracts significantly from the impact of
the overall excellence of these drawings and pictures. Even a one page
commentary as to the purpose of these figures would have increased the
usefulness considerably.
References. An extremely positive aspect of the treatment of each of the major
topics is emphasis on the historical importance of the early investigators in
each field and the significance of their contributions. Some of the historical
contributions include: the ‘sliding filament’ hypothesis (Huxley & Niedergerke
and Huxley & Hanson, 1954, p. 25), the cross-innervation experiments (Buller,
Eccles & Eccles, 1960, p. 60 & 200), the length-tension relationship (Gordon,
Huxley, & Julian, 1966 and Edman, 1966, P. 52), the force-velocity relationship
(Hill, 1938 and Katz, 1939, p. 60), the role of ATP in the cross-bridge cycle (Szent-Gyorgi,
1953 and Maruyama & Gergely, 1962, p. 66), the properties of motor units (Burke,
1967, Burke et al., 1973, p, 92, 198), the mechanisms of muscle fatigue (Merton,
1954), and the orderly recruitment of motor units (Henneman, Somjen & Carpenter,
1965, p. 211).
John A. Faulkner
University of Michigan
The Destiny of Germans in St. Ivan and Other Writings
Rajko Igic.
Biographical Publishing Company, Prospect, CT, 2002, 126 pp., USA $19.95, CAN
$31.95.
ISBN: 1-929882-29-7.
This is a biographical collection of stories and poems written by the scientist
and humanist Rajko Igic. Igic was a founder and head of the Department of
Pharmacology at the Tuzla Medical School, in the former Yugoslavia, from 1978 to
1992. He immigrated to the US in 1993. The author reflects on important people,
researchers, and events that shaped his life and his scientific career. For the
most part, it is up to the reader to interpret these episodes from the author’s
life. As Igic points out by citing Dostoyevsky, “truth or reality is the most
poetic thing in the world; it is even more fantastic than the ordinary human
mind is capable of fabricating and conceiving” (p.13).
In addition to the author’s memories from his childhood in post-war Serbia,
poems, and other writings, the book includes chapters on three great researchers
that all, yet in a different way, had a strong influence on the authors career.
Ulf Svante von Euler (1905-1983), the famous Swedish physiologist and Nobel
Prize laureate (1970), was among the first to visit post-World War II Yugoslavia
and establish collaboration with Yugoslav physiologists and pharmacologists. In
his book, Igic vividly recalls the first International Symposium on Substance P
held, of all places, in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 1961. This meeting
brought together some of the most influential physiologists and pharmacologists
of our times such as von Euler, Pernow and Gaddum. Igic later went on to devote
his scientific career to the investigation of biologically active peptides,
including substance P, a peptide hormone that was originally discovered by von
Euler.
Another chapter is devoted to Professor Ervin G. Erdös, a well-known biochemist
and pharmacologist who became a scientific mentor and personal friend of Igic.
What started as a meeting of scientific minds interested in metabolism of
bioactive peptides eventually evolved into a long-lasting collaboration and
friendship. Erdös played an important role not only in the author’s scientific
development but also in his private life providing much needed support when Igic
and his family arrived as refugees in the US in 1993. The chapter contains
lively anecdotes and experiences from his sabbaticals spent in Erdös’s
laboratory.
The Balkan region, so frequently engulfed in wars and civil unrests, is not
considered a fertile ground for scientific research. Despite the odds, a few
brave and creative minds have been able to make their mark on the international
scene. One of them that the author is so fond of is Ivan Djaja (or Jean Giaja,
1884-1957). Djaja was founder and head of the Department of Physiology at the
University of Belgrade. Trained in France, Djaja spent almost 50 years working
at the University of Belgrade. He was internationally recognized for his
contribution to the understanding of thermoregulation and of hibernation. The
chapter includes an anecdote about his discovery related to the hibernation
phenomenon that the author heard from an American physiologist in Oklahoma City.
The Destiny also parallels the destiny of a multi-ethnic society in the volatile
region of the former Yugoslavia. History predicts the destiny of this
multi-ethnic society. The most recent event in the region, one experienced by
author and his family, the exodus from the former Yugoslavia, triggered memories
of events that took place in his hometown in the aftermath of World War II some
50 years ago. Scientists share the fate of their societies; the frustration
comes about when analytical and deductive minds try to comprehend the logic of a
society in war.
That frustration is echoed in a poem “Quo Vadis, Humanity.” The other two poems
(“Dream” and “Are We Inferior to Dolphins”) also convey a strong anti-war
message. This book is an interesting read for young scientists, international
scholars, humanists, and all those curious to find out if we are really
“inferior to dolphins.”
Tomislav Dragovich
University of Arizona
Biochemistry: The Chemical Reactions of Living Cells. 2nd Edition, Volume 1.
David E. Metzler.
San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 2001, 937 pp., illus., index, $95.00.
ISBN: 0-12-492540-5.
Biochemistry: The Chemical Reactions of Living Cells. 2nd Edition, Volume 2.
David E. Metzler.
San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 2003,
1973 pp., illus., index, $95.00.
ISBN: 0-12-492541-3.
The Dana Guide to Brain Health.
Floyd E. Bloom, MD, Flint Beal, MD, and David J. Kupfer, MD, (Editors).
New York: Free Press, 2003, 733 pp., illus., index, $45.00.
ISBN: 0-7432-0397-6.
Encyclopedia of Hormones, Volume 1, 2, and 3, A-Z.
Helen L. Henry and Anthony W. Norman (Editors).
New York: Academic, 2003, 666 pp., 725 pp., 763 pp., illus., index, $599.95. (3
Vol. Set).
ISBN: 0-12-341104-1;
ISBN: 0-12-341105-X;
ISBN: 0-12-341106-8.
Exercise: Hot Topics.
Manu V. Chakravarthy, MD, PhD, and Frank W. Booth, PhD.
Philadelphia, PA: Hanley & Belfus, 2003, 326 pp., illus, index, $29.95.
ISBN: 1-56053-568-7.
Functional and Neutral Mechanisms of Internal Timing.
Warren H. Meck, Editor.
Atlanta, GA: CRC, 2003, 351 pp., illus., index, $149.95.
ISBN: 0-8493-1109-8.
Functional Genomics: Methods and Protocols.
Miichael J. Brownstein and Arkady B. Khodursky (Editors).
Totowa, NJ: Humana, 2003, 258 pp., illus., index, $89.50.
ISBN: 1-58829-291-6.
Living with Hemochromatosis: Expert Answers to Your Questions about Iron
Overload.
Gregory T. Everson, MD, FACP, and Heddy Weinberg.
New York: Hatherleigh, 2003, 234 pp., illus., index, $15.95.
ISBN: 1-57826-104-X.
Quantitative Genetics, Genomics and Plant Breeding.
Manjit S. Kang, Editor.
New York: Oxford University, 2003, 400 pp., illus., index, $140.00.
ISBN: 0-85199-601-9.
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