Abstract
Somehow I never came across the first edition of this book, but I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to get to know this second edition. It will be an invaluable resource for a duty biochemist, those preparing for MRCPath and for teaching. It is ideal for all those times that your basic clinical biochemistry textbook just does not give you enough, but you lack the time or patience to hunt down a good, up-to-date review in a journal.
All the usual topics are covered and there are also chapters on psychiatric and neurological diseases and immunology for clinical biochemists, muscles, joints and free radicals. Each chapter starts with the relevant anatomy, physiology and metabolism before proceeding to the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of disease and discussing the methodology, interpretation and limitations of laboratory tests. Information is wide-ranging and detailed but also very practical being applicable to the real questions about real patients that we have to deal with every day. There are lots of tables for easy reference. Instead of long lists of references each chapter ends with a further reading list – someone else has found the good, up-to-date reviews for you and even gives a précis so you can decide which ones to read.
Many new authors have contributed to this edition with a consequent overhaul of the subject matter. To reflect the changes in practice that have occurred in the last 12 years several chapters have been greatly expanded, and sometimes split into two, particularly in the fields of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, gut function, nutrition, eating disorders and obesity. The new chapter on inherited metabolic disease sets out the general principles of inheritance, presentation and investigations while the detailed descriptions of individual disorders are found in the chapters of the affected body system. Likewise, the chapter on molecular clinical biochemistry is not heavy on laboratory techniques or lists of genes and diseases but sets out the basic concepts for genetic testing. Other useful changes from the first edition include a list of topics with page numbers at the beginning of each chapter and clearer presentation of tables.
I heartily recommend this book. But beware, it is only available in paperback and may not stand up to the heavy use that it will undoubtedly get.
To avoid conflicts of interest, this review was commissioned by the Editor-in-Chief, not the Book Reviews Editor.