Drugs Books

Chow has done an excellent job of collecting articles from the leading researchers in the pharmaceutical and biologics industry including FDA employees. The terms are specialized but important to those industries. The articles are scholarly and informative. The quality is similar to those in the Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. Most of the terms are also of interest to statisticians like myself who work in the medical device industry. A sample of the items are "Adjustment for Covariates", "Bayesian Statistics", "Bioassay", "Clinical Trials", "Equivalence Trials", "Food and Drug Administration", "Intention-to-Treat Analyses", "International Conference on Harmonization", "Multiple Comparisons", "Postmarketing Surveillance", "Sample Size Determination", and "Surrogate Endpoint".
This is a particularly good reference for statisticians who work on clinical trials regulated by the FDA. However keep in mind that it is very specialized and is rather expensive.

Chow has done an excellent job of collecting articles from the leading researchers in the pharmaceutical and biologics industry including FDA employees. The terms are specialized but important to those industries. The articles are scholarly and informative. The quality is similar to those in the Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. Most of the terms are also of interest to statisticians like myself who work in the medical device industry. A sample of the items are "Adjustment for Covariates", "Bayesian Statistics", "Boassay", "Clinical Trials", "Equivalence Trials", "Food and Drug Administration", "Intention-to-Treat Analyses", "International Conference on Harmonization", "Multiple Comparisons", "Postmarketing Surveillance", "Sample Size Determination", and "Surrogate Endpoint".

This is a particularly good reference for statisticians who work on clinical trials regulated by the FDA. However keep in mind that it is very specialized and is rather expensive.

Takes a look at not only common drugs, plants, and animals, yes animals, used for psychoactive experiences, but more importantly, it gives a very impressive view of obscure substances that most other 'drug encyclopedias', that cost about the same price or more, don't even mention.

This is the book to get if you want to learn more about the substances that you don't see in the news everyday, but in many cases have been used for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

It looks at the more common drugs used in society today (LSD, Ecstasy, Marijuana, etc.) but its real value is that of a gap filler in most peoples drug knowledge.

This is a good overview of most drugs used in society today as well as plants and methods that have been used in times past. From the common to the obscure, most psychoactive substances and their histories are included. It makes a welcome addition to any library.

Being a book in encyclopedia form, it only devotes a few pages to each substance. If you are looking for a detailed book about a specific drug don't get this, get a book strictly devoted to the drug you are interested in.

Very interesting, quick and enjoyable read. Ms. Cheryl brings up some interesting points of discussion for anyone who has had dealings not only with the medical business but business practices overall. The touches of homelife she introduces make this appealing to a wide variety of readers. Would love to read more.

I'm not quite sure what I expected when I first picked up this book. I was just interested in maybe entering the Pharma Industry. The story changed my interests and changed my opinions on the Pharmaceutical Industry as a whole. It was a wonderful quick, easy read and very enjoyable. I usually have two or three books going at the same time because I become distracted and don't have the time to finish anything. Not true for this story - finished in two nights and had my eyes opened to many new things to ponder on my next doctor's visit! Passed it along to my mom and sister to read as well.

I have found this book very useful. If you have to use enzyme kinetics, and analyze the data, then you really should have this book. That it is recommended by Prof Cornish-Bowden attests to its accuracy.
Personally I find this topic difficult, but this book is well written, and I have a much better understanding of kinetics after getting this book.

Books and reviews on drug design are often disappointing, but Evaluation of Enzyme Inhibitors in Drug Discovery is excellent; it is a book that should be on the shelves of anyone involved in rational drug development, and available to anyone interested in understanding how successful drugs work. It starts by explaining why enzymes are appropriate targets for a drug design in the first place, and goes on to emphasize that inhibiting an enzyme and producing the intended effect on the whole organism is not a trivial matter. As the author remarks, "dogmatic arguments that lead to a priori predictions of what will work best in a biological context more often than not reflect an incomplete understanding".

If rational drug design is ever to become a reality it will involve knowledge of much more than three-dimensional structure, though this sometimes seems to be the only aspect considered. It requires, of course, knowledge of the different kinds of inhibition and how the inhibitor affects enzyme activity at different concentrations of substrates and products. In addition, it requires some knowledge of the metabolic context in which the inhibited enzyme is embedded: if it has almost no flux control then inhibiting it -- even to a high degree -- may have almost no effect on the flux through it (though it may still have large effects on the metabolite concentrations around it). finally it requires understanding of what makes some molecules "drug-like", and others not: it is no use identifying a superb inhibitor of the ideal enzyme if there is no way of delivering it to the target. Copeland deals with all of these points, and others, in an appropriately elementary way. Apart from giving much more information about inhibition than he did in Enzymes (Wiley-Interscience, 2000), here he takes a more leisurely pace and the book should not offer any serious difficulty to anyone wanting to master the subject.

As the author explains, there is much more to enzyme inhibition than just competitive inhibition: some successful drugs are indeed competitive inhibitors, Methotrexate and Viagra among them, but others are not; Finasteride, for example, used for treating benign hypertrophy of the prostate, is an uncompetitive inhibitor of steroid 5alpha-reductase. Classifying inhibitors thus needs more than crude measures of IC50 values, and if these are used at all they need to be used in conjunction with knowledge of how they relate to inhibition constants.

Analysis of the kind set out in the book is essential for understanding why enzyme inhibitors work as drugs, but the sceptical reader may wonder how much of it is post hoc rationalization, and how much was actually used for discovering the drugs. Let us consider the 26 enzyme inhibitors that have become successful drugs that are listed in Chapter 1, from Acetazolamide, an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase used to treat glaucoma, to Viagra, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase that is now familiar to everyone. Modern Drug Discovery claimed in 1998 that "Viagra was discovered using a rational drug design approach", but was it? It was not originally conceived as a drug for treating erectile dysfunction, and its usefulness for this discovered almost by chance when it was noticed that some men who participated in clinical trials as a treatment for angina pectoris reported unexpected effects. Even as an inhibitor for phosphodiesterase, Viagra was found by making variations on the structure of Zaprinast, a weak inhibitor that had failed to become a useful anti-allergy treatment. There is little in this history to suggest rational drug design.

There are many good points about this book, but it is often difficult to find them, because the index is very poor. For example, there is a discussion of the characteristics of "drug-like" molecules (Lipinski's rules, etc.), but don't expect to learn this from the index; the only way to find it is to leaf through the pages. Fortunately it comes early in the book, but there are other equally important and equally secret topics later on. In other respects this is a fine achievement, a book that can be enthusiastically recommended.

Even in the Darkness is a perfect combination of wonderful characters and suspense that doesn't let up. That's a hard balance to keep and Shirlee McCoy does a great job.

Tori Riley has been through much pain in her life. She's been let down too many times in her past by men, and to her understanding, by God too. So she believes that the only person she can trust is herself. When she travels to Thailand to visit her biological daughter Melody, and Melody's adoptive parents, Tori unknowingly puts all of them in danger when she innocently purchases a rosewood box for Melody as a gift. What she soon learns out is that there is a drug lord who will do anything to get his hands on this box.

Noah Stone is a retired DEA agent who comes back to Thailand as a favor to a friend. His knowledge of the area is vital to bring down a major drug ring in the area. Noah also knows God has called him there for a reason. When he rescues Tori and she leads him to the box, he is uncertain of her motives. Is she really a drug runner as the DEA suspects?

When the stakes are raised even higher, Tori is forced to rely on Noah to help save Melody's life. Will he let her down as so many other men have? As Tori begins to trust Noah, she also realizes that maybe it wasn't God who abandoned her. Could God still love her and answer her prayers, even after she turned her back on Him?

EVEN IN THE DARKNESS is a fast paced novel that will keep the reader turning those pages. Tori Riley, small town veterinarian, gave her daughter Melody, up for adoption. Now Joi Raymond, Tori's best friend and her husband, Mark, Melody's adoptive parents, are serving as missionaries in Thailand. When Tori arrives to celebrate Melody's birthday, she goes shoppping and accidently ends up with a rosewood box intended for Lao, the head of a vicious drug cartel. Tori is taken captive but is freed by Noah Stone, a retired DEA agent, who has been called back into service. Now Tori is on the run, hunted by men who will kill to get what they want.
When Lao kidnaps Melody, Tori and Noah set out to rescue her. Their search leads through a treacherous jungle to an abandoned village for a confrontation with a man who wants Tori, dead or alive. Independent Tori learns to depend on Noah and to accept the God he worships. If you like excitment you'll enjoy Even in the Darkness.

I read Welborn's book and was truly touched by her sincere desire to help people who are struggling financially to better save when buying prescription drugs. Of course, even the wealthy could significantly save after reading this book! "Everything You Need to Know..." needs to be on an Oprah show so people everywhere can benefit from it!
Dr. Rosemary Calard-Szulgit

I was really skeptical when I first saw the title of this book- How can a book help me with buying prescription drugs? However, since I don't have insurance, and I have to pay for all my medications myself, I thought I would give it a chance. Well, the consumer advice in the book was great! I saved $20 alone on my very next prescription drug purchase. I would recommend this book to anyone who takes more than 1 or 2 prescription drugs.

Great resource, quick to look up. Answers questions some doctors are reluctant to give. Puts your mind at east when it comes to taking different medication, or are wanting information before you become pregnant.

This book is very easy to read and search, covers many Rx and over-the-counter drugs, as well as other potential hazards such as paints, caffeine, X-ray, etc. Very useful and handy.

The book was recieved in almost perfect condition. Would definitely buy from them again.

As a practicing clinician and a researcher, I had frequently consulted the first edition of Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology since its publication in 1980, and I am glad that a new edition has now become available because considerable advances have been made in this field over the past 20 years. Glancing through the pages of the new edition, I note that the editors have kept up the high standard of the earlier work. The text has been thoroughly revised and updated, and new subjects added. I have no doubt that it will continue to be a most authoritative book in neurotoxicology.

I am a librarian in a public library. I first examined your book when a patron requested information on alcoholism and I was checking publication dates of materials in our collection. I found this book to be an excellent diagnostic tool, as I was dealing with the same problem at home. The book clearly defines the characteristics of an addiction. It provides a lens through which to see what is actually going on in a family where addiction affects everyone, not just the drinker. Armed with the knowledge that we can only change ourselves, it provides the reader with concrete approaches to the problem. It describes attitudes and actions that inadvertently feed the addiction as well as those that serve to intervene in the control addiction has over the whole family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who suspects that alcohol may be a problem in their home. In this case, knowledge is power.

Since a friend sent me this book some ten years ago, I have considered myself very lucky to be in possession of such a fine book.
For those who are interested in understanding the wide and wild effects of the world's commonest drug, alcohol, this is the book. it helped me understand how the power of drunkenness affects the individual and those around, and how they in turn react. I could not find a line that Michael Elkin wasted in this 300 page book. It helped me understand the disease of alcoholism better.
Whatever your interest in the subject of alcohol, this book will take you further especially if you are interested in understanding how this clear substance called alcohol is capable of producing such extra-ordinary pleasure as well as such extra-ordinary pain.

I would like to read every paper Michael Elkin has written on the subject of alcohol if I could find it. Any help?

All I can say is WOW! This is truly an incredible story. I learned of Lauren Chapin from an episode of the "E! True Hollywood Story". I had to know more so I got this book. It was written in the late 1980s, '89 I believe. Her abusive father lived to see this book, but I don't know if he read it (I doubt it). One thing on the TV special that is not in the book is when Lauren was by her father's side when he died. He aparantly showed no remorse or appologies for the horrific abuse he put his daughter through, and asked if there was a Hell. Lauren replied "Well, you're soon gonna find out!".

One very important thing: This is NOT just another whining celebrity autobiography, "Waaa waaa, oh, woe is me. I had it so bad". We've ALL had it bad at some point in our lives. But most of us, thankfully, not like this. The fact that Lauren kept going is a mortal miracle. However, later in the book, I didn't feel that sorry for her when she went back to one of her abusive boyfriends. I remember that saying, "hit me once, shame on you. Hit me twice, shame on me". When someone hits someone they "love" (or anyone for that matter), there is NO excuse for it and is unforgivable.

I'm glad Lauren came out on top. I don't personally share her religeous beliefs, but I am happy that she was able to put her life back together, because she really did hit rock bottom. This is a MUST READ!!

Its a wonderful story for anybody if you want to read about the struggle between doing the right thing and slipping back into drugs. It was one of the most moving books I have ever read, I even cried!