John Hopkins Handbook of Drugs - Hardcover

Johns Hopkins Medical In

9780929661070: John Hopkins Handbook of Drugs

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0929661079 ISBN 13: 9780929661070

Publisher: Random House, Inc., 1993

Physicians from the country's preeminent hospital join with The United States Pharmacopeia to create the most authoritative encyclopedia of drugs for people over 50.

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rom the country's preeminent hospital join with The United States Pharmacopeia to create the most authoritative encyclopedia of drugs for people over 50.

From Booklist:

People between the ages of 55 and 64 receive an average of eight prescriptions per year. Those over 70 take an average of 6.5 medications daily. Since older people are more sensitive to drugs and are likely to take several at once, the possibility of drug interactions and adverse effects increases with age. People in this age group need accurate drug information and education on the proper use of the medications they take. The Johns Hopkins Handbook of Drugs is designed to meet this need.

The information in this book comes from the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, a nonprofit organization of representatives from health professions, government agencies, and the public. The table of contents is arranged by disease, using the same categories used in a companion book, The Johns Hopkins Medical Handbook: The 100 Major Diseases of People over the Age of 50 (1992). Within broad subject areas (e.g., cancer, the blood, the digestive system), there are subheadings for specific conditions--breast carcinoma, pernicious anemia--and listings for the individual drugs used to treat them.

The main body of the work is an alphabetical listing of drugs by their generic names. Each entry contains a list of common brand names, type of preparation (oral, rectal, etc.), indications, pharmacology, precautions, side or adverse effects, patient information, and dosage. There are also overview articles for major drug classes, such as antacids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics. These contain detailed tables comparing the drugs within the class. A master index lists all drugs by brand and generic names and class.

This excellent, up-to-date resource is more current than The AARP Pharmacy Service Prescription Drug Handbook (AARP, 1988) and Bruce S. Katcher's Prescription Drugs, an Indispensable Guide for People over 50 (Atheneum, 1988). The Complete Drug Reference (Consumer Reports, annual) contains similar information but lacks the comparison tables. Johns Hopkins is written in fairly technical language, and the print is small. It also lacks a color drug-identification guide. These factors may be problems for senior citizens using the book. The Complete Drug Reference is more accessible with larger print, a drug identification section, and lay language. Despite these drawbacks, The Johns Hopkins Handbook of Drugs is a fine source for consumer-health and health-science collections in need of current drug information.

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