Michael Sharpe MA MDEmeritus Professor of Psychological Medicine University of OxfordPast President
The use of psychoactive drugs in the medically ill is an important, complex, and often perplexing field. This reference book is correspondingly not only important but also superb in providing much needed guidance by describing both general principles and summarizing the relevant literature. This useful manual starts with basic pharmacology and routes of administration, then walks the reader though the effects, adverse-effects and interactions of these drugs in patients with disease in each bodily system. The combination of clinical wisdom and comprehensive reviews of the literature make this book indispensable not only to consultation-liaison psychiatrists but also to any physician interested in the effects on brain and behaviour of the drugs they routinely use.
Alan F. Schatzberg
As patients live longer medical comorbidity has become exceedingly common with various psychiatric disorders, including major depression and bipolar disorder. Indeed, some of our primary treatments for these disorders may actually lead to this comorbidity because of biological consequences of specific pharmacology agents. Thus, today we can no longer easily separate medical and psychiatric disorders in our approaches to specific patients. Indeed, a wider knowledge of the interface is needed for everyday practice. In this vein we need to consider medical status when prescribing psychotropic agents. The Second Edition of this Manual helps all of us to practice better and is a must read. Its first edition was an enormous step forward for the field and this Second Edition will only bring us further up to date on how best to prescribe psychotropic drugs in treating co-morbid patients.
James A. Bourgeois
(This manual) is a timely, highly pragmatic, thorough, and essential volume for psychosomatic medicine (PSM). Thoughtfully dedicated to their late colleague and collaborator James Owen (who was an author on several chapters), the book takes a clinically and scientifically grounded approach to the myriad challenges of the management of co-morbid psychiatric and systemic illness. This volume should be available to every PSM psychiatry service and should also be of interest to the general psychiatrist who is expected to function in a PSM role on occasion.
Michael Sharpe
The use of psychoactive drugs in the medically ill is an important, complex, and often perplexing field. This reference book is correspondingly not only important but also superb in providing much needed guidance by describing both general principles and summarizing the relevant literature. This useful manual starts with basic pharmacology and routes of administration, then walks the reader through the effects, adverse-effects and interactions of these drugs in patients with disease in each bodily system. The combination of clinical wisdom and comprehensive reviews of the literature make this book indispensable not only to consultation-liaison psychiatrists but also to any physician interested in the effects on brain and behaviour of the drugs they routinely use.
Philip R. Muskin
The first edition of this book was an instant "must have" for all psychiatrists, whether they treat patients with comorbid medical conditions or not. The second edition of the Manual is even better, updated and another "must have" book for all psychiatrists. The evidence supporting the use for or against a medication in a particular medical illness is reviewed succinctly. I particularly liked the Key Points at the end of each chapter as they provided a summary of the take home messages. Congratulations to the authors and editors for producing such a valuable textbook.
Prof. Massimo Biondi
Psychiatric disorders and medical illness are often comorbid. Psychopharmacological treatment thus poses several efficacy and safety challenges. This manual covers the main—if not all of—the needs that psychiatrists and medical specialists have in the psychopharmacological treatment of medical patients. It is extraordinary well documented, updated, and precise. The manual is both a very useful resource for the clinician and a clear educational tool for students. This second, enriched new edition promises an even better success than the previous one.
Anthony J. Rothschild
As the population ages, it is increasingly common to be prescribing psychotropic medications to patients who are also being treated with other medications for co-occurring medical conditions. Thus, it is important for the practitioner to understand the interface of psychiatric and medical diseases and the effects of psychotropic and nonpsychotropic medications on each other. Consequently, the Clinical Manual of Psychopharmacology in the Medically Ill is a must-have for every psychiatrist's and primary care provider's bookshelf! Now in its Third Edition, the book is conveniently organized by medical illness with comprehensive discussions regarding pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, principles of drug-drug interactions, and severe drug reactions. At the end of each chapter are "Key Points" that succinctly summarize the important points to remember. The book is a useful tool for the busy practitioner because it synthesizes a large amount of information in an easy-to-read manual with clear explanations.
