I am reviewing an older version of this book, the 9th edition. This was actually my mother?s book, who is a physician. Anyway, I guess one could say that I borrowed it from here. I started reading this book in the summer between my 1st and 2nd year of medical school. I wanted to keep my mind fresh with school material so that I would not go totally brain dead. My mother also said that this was a very good book, since she used it herself when she needed to review physiology.
How I used this book?
I basically tried to read a chapter over a 1 to 2 day period. That was my goal. But some chapters took a bit longer to cover because they had much more material and detail than others. Others were just incredibly dense.
The inside covers have tables of normal laboratory values for quick reference. The book is divided into sections with chapters. The first section served to introduce some physiologic principles. It covered cellular structure and function, how to measure solute concentration, cell membrane and resting potentials, pH and buffers and homeostasis. It provided a few examples for calculations to help reinforce the material. There were a lot of good diagrams that depiced the mechanisms of G proteins and second messenger systems.
The chapters on the endocrine system were written very well and covered: thyroid gland, pituitary, hypothalamus, adrenal, gonads, hormonal control calcium metabolism and bone physiology, and exocrine pancreas. I found the chapter on energy balance, metabolism and nutrition to be like a mini-biochemistry comprehensive. It covered most of intermediary metabolism: carbohydrate, protein and fats. It showed a lot of the biochemical reactions that take place within the cell.
The chapters on the nervous system were very in-depth and required extensive study. I think the diagrams found within the vision and auditory chapters are exhaustive and sufficiently cover the anatomy. The photoreceptor mechanisms and response by visual cortex are a bit dense. The drawings that show the relationship between the membranous and osseous labyrinths are classics and very detailed.
Although I only read this book once, I feel that I have read many, many times because other books that I have used constantly reference and use Ganong diagrams in their own explanations. I am glad that I read the actual source of these reference because I now have a framework for them.
Overall, this book is a very useful resource for the subject of physiology. Even thought this is an older version of the text the basic principles are the same. The diagrams are still classics and I still see them referenced in many book used for board preparation, including First Aid.
I think it is best to use this book during 1st year physiology course work. It is too detailed for board preparation. I do recommend this book over Guyton?s Physiology because it has a leaner text and is written in a better style that keeps things interesting.
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