Advances In Drug Research, vol 9, edited by Alma B. Simmonds, 142 pp, with illus, $12.25, New York, Academic Press, 1975.
Emphasizing applied therapeutics more than fundamental pharmacology and pharmacodynamics, these volumes edited by Donoso consider common drugs affecting the rhythm, contractility, and perfusion of the heart, altering the blood lipoproteins, and regulating the blood pressure. Although many commonly used drugs are listed, including the frequently overlooked but dangerous effects of the mood-altering agents, one looks in vain for clonidine, xanthines, ephedrine, veratrum, and several other drugs in current use. Anticoagulant drugs will find consideration later among the Current Cardiovascular Topics along with consideration of platelets and thrombosis and a variety of other topics that will be determined by the editor "by the current informational needs in the field." Details of absorption, distribution, biotransformation, excretion, fate, and molecular basis of action are scant, but clinical effectiveness, along with both the