Book Reviews
Marianne J. Legato (Editor)
New York: Elsevier Acad. Press, 2004, 1396 pp., illus., index, $279.95
ISBN:0-12-4409059.
Until late into the 20th century, except for reproductive function, human physiology was defined in terms of the “typical 70 kg man.” Exclusion of female animals from basic science studies or women from clinical trials was justified by the rationale that ovarian cyclicity complicated the data and increased expense of the study. However, this view of human physiology changed with the Government Accounting Office audit of the National Institute’s of Health policy for inclusion of women in clinical trials (2). A series of governmental and activist initiatives culminated in a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2001, “Exploring the Biological Contribution to Human Health: Does Sex Matter?” This IOM report concluded that sex does matter in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease and those barriers to the advancement of knowledge about sex differences in normal physiology and disease must be eliminated (3).
Eliminating barriers in medical knowledge requires changes in the teaching of physiology. Teaching materials must be developed and revised to incorporate new concepts of sex-based physiology/medicine. To that end, the two-volume set edited by Marianne Legato, brings together experts to review the current state of knowledge about sex-based differences in systems medicine. The choice of the “Gender-Specific” rather than “Sex-based” medicine for the title is unfortunate in that conventions developed by the Office of Women’s Health Research suggest that the term “gender” be used to describe how an individual perceives their interaction in the world, while “sex” is used to define the genotype of XX or XY chromosome. The text addresses sex-based differences.
Authors of each chapter are well-respected clinician-scientists who are building the discipline of sex-based medicine. Because most of the authors come from a medical background, each chapter represents more of a review of the current clinical literature than basic physiological principles causal to the differences (i.e., molecular and cellular actions of sex steroids on various tissue and processes). The layout of the text follows a system approach. However, not all chapters are of equal depth or are all topics covered to the same extent. This uneven representation of some systems is to be expected as sex-based medicine is an evolving discipline and not all systems have attracted the same enthusiasm of research investment. For example, chapters of bone/osteoporosis have a substantial background of basic research while those related to dermatology are categorized as an area for future development. Chapters on cardiovascular disease reflect the editor’s expertise and focus on cardiology and coronary artery disease. Sections on pulmonary hypertension and reproductive function are excellent and provide detail not usually included in traditional medical texts.
Most chapters lack diagrams that could be adapted for the classroom or didactic teaching materials at the undergraduate or graduate level as are provided in other less comprehensive texts on sex-based physiology [see (1)]. However, as medicine moves to a more individual approach of genomics for prevention, diagnostic and treatment of disease, principles of sex-based medicine must be incorporated into teaching materials at all levels of science (K-12, undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate). Until the day comes when principles of sex-based differences become a natural part of how physiology is researched and taught, texts such as these volumes edited by Legato make perfect companion materials to traditional physiology texts for graduate and post-graduate students of physiology.
References:
1. Bittar, EE, series ed. Principles of Sex-Based Differences in Physiology. Volume 34: Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology. 2004. Elsevier Publishing Company.
2. Marts, SA and Keitt, S. Foreward: A historical overview of advocacy for research in sex-based biology. In: Principles of Sex-Based Differences in Physiology, Miller VM and Hay M (eds). Volume 34: Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology (Bittar EE, series ed). Elsevier Publishing Company, 2004, p. v-xiii.
3. .Wizemann, TM and Pardue, M-L, eds. Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health: Does Sex Matter? 2001. Board on Health Sciences Policy. Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC.
Virginia M. Miller
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Peter Burckhardt, Bess Dawson-Hughes and Robert P. Heaney, editors. Elsevier, Acad. Press, 2004, 458 pp, illus., index, $99.95. ISBN: 0-12141704-2.
This book contains the proceedings of the fifth international symposium of nutritional aspects of osteoporosis. As a result, many of the 32 chapters deal with very specific topics that might not otherwise be discussed in separate chapters. The editors are aware of this and tried to classify individual chapters under such general rubrics as Vitamins, Flavonoids, or Nutrition and Bone Health Miscellaneous. Nevertheless, the general reader searching for a systematic approach to nutrition and osteoporosis may experience frustration when looking for established information. One example of the kind of specialized information is a paper that shows that dietary supplementation of boys and girls with calcium carbonate led to higher levels of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), but it is not clear whether that rise was the cause or the result of a previously reported increase in bone mineral content. Another paper reports that an increase in dietary protein and energy each independently increased bone mass in sedentary girls, but not in gymnasts. These are but two examples of the type of information that would deserve a sentence or a paragraph, but not a chapter in a book that would deal with the general relationship between nutrition and osteoporosis. Yet, the book contains chapters of interest. For example, six chapters deal with vitamin D from a fairly broad viewpoint, with the seventh reporting a general consensus to raise the recommended vitamin D intake to between 800 and 1000 IU per day per person so as to reach the optimum plasma level of 80 nmol/L of 25(OH)D. Other chapters deal with the vexing problem of the effect of acid-base balance on mineral metabolism and bone mass. The book is well produced, moderately priced, and will interest specialists in the field.
Felix Bronner
Univ. of Connecticut Health Center
Books Received
Donat-Peter Hader, Ruth Hemmersbach, and Michael Lebert.
New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005, 258 pp., illus., index, $95.00.
ISBN: 0-521-82052-9.
Methods in Insect Sensory
Neuroscience.
Thomas A. Christensen, (Editor).
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press I LLC, 2005, 435 pp., illus., index, $139.95.
ISBN: 0-8493-2024-0.
Motor Cortex in Voluntary Movements:
A Distribution System For Distributed Functions.
Alexa Riehle and Eilon Vaadia, (Editors).
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press I LLC, 2005, 426 pp., illus., index, $139.95.
ISBN: 0-8493-1287-6.
Oxygen Uptake Kinetics in Sport,
Exercise and Medicine.
Andrew M. Jones and David C. Poole, (Editors).
Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2005, 405 pp., illus., index, $46.38.
ISBN: 0-415-30561-6.
Pathological Pain: From Molecular To Clinical Aspects.
Novartis Foundation Symposium 261.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2004, 271 pp., illus., index, $135.00.
ISBN: 0-470-86910-0.
The Scientific Basis of Integrative Medicine.
Leonard A. Wisneski and Lucy Anderson.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press I LLC, 2005, 279 pp., illus., index, $89.95.
ISBN: 0-8493-2081-X.
Shu Chien: Tributes on His 70th Birthday.
Lamping Amy Sung and Kuang-Chung Hu Chien, (Editors).
Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co, 2004, 573 pp., illus., index, $103.00.
ISBN: 981-238-383-2.