mk^^
PREFACE
Many students decide to follow a career path that is related to medicine,
for example Biomedical Sciences (Medical Technology in the USA), Clinical
Sciences, Clinical Physiology and Nursing. While there are a number of
textbooks for medical students and nurses as well as a number covering the
clinical biochemistry area, there did not seem to us to be a book that dealt with
disease from a more scientific standpoint. Such a book would cover a range
of disease conditions, their causes and diagnoses, and outline treatment but
set at an appropriate level. The idea of writingBiology of Diseasearose from
discussions between ourselves and various colleagues and students over a
number of years regarding the absence of a single book, which summarized
most of the clinical material studied by first- and second-year Biomedical
Sciences and related-degree students. It was felt that such a textbook would
assist students during the first and second years of their degree programmes,
particularly if it covered aspects of the Biomedical Sciences appropriate
to courses accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Science of the UK and
similar courses elsewhere.
When writingBiology of Disease it was decided to include appropriate
background material, describing it in relatively simple terms. However, in
practice it was not possible to cover all these aspects; hence some preknowledge
of biochemistry and cell and molecular biology has been assumed. Although
Biology of Diseaseis not primarily amedicaltextbook, we do think it could
also be of value to students participating in foundation courses for medical
schools. The areas and topics covered by the termbiomedical sciencesare vast
and we have had to curtail the number of topics included – modern medicine
and its ancillary subjects represent a huge body of knowledge.
The structure of the book aims to help students plan their learning and
navigate their way through complex topics. For example, all chapters begin
with clearly statedObjectives, followed by a shortIntroductionto set the scene
for the ensuing contents. The main body of text of all the chapters includes
‘Boxes’of one or two pages length to highlight a medical or scientific aspect
we felt to be of special interest.Margin Notesemphasize material worth
highlighting and provide a little extra explanation to the text. Each chapter
has a concluding shortSummary. Students (and staff ) can test themselves
against the chapter material using the simpleCase Studiesand relevant
end-of-chapter questionsprovided. Each chapter is illustrated by simple line
diagrams, light and electron micrographs and tables, as well as molecular
models of compounds of interest.