Author: Leonard R. Johnson
Publisher: Elsevier Saunders – 165 pages

Book Review by: Nano Khilnani

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This book provides you not only with a basic understanding of how the gastrointestinal system functions in both health and disease, but also provides recent updates of discoveries.

This work – the eighth edition of a book that was first published in 1997 – has been produced for medical students and beginning graduate students. Its slim, handy paperback format makes it easy to use and contains a lot of new information that has been acquired by the author in his years of study and teaching as a professor of physiology as related to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

He writes that all of its 13 chapters, now containing considerable amounts of new material, have been updated with current information, including figures. Some of the major changes in this new edition are:

• The addition of a list of Objectives at the beginning of chapters
• The addition of Clinical Application boxes within the chapters

Some the benefits to users of this book are to:

• Stay abreast of the latest research and findings in physiology with coverage of the physiological significance of gastrointestinal peptides; the regulation of mucosal growth and cancer; details surrounding acid secretion and peptic ulcers; and more
• Access new information on the regulation of pancreatic secretion and gallbladder contraction; the transport process for the absorption of nutrients; facts about fat absorption; and the regulation of food intake

Here is an overview of the subjects covered in this book:

• Regulation: Peptides of the Gastrointestinal Tract
• Regulation: Nerves and Smooth Muscle
• Swallowing
• Gastric Emptying
• Motility of the Small Intestine
• Motility of the Large Intestine
• Salivary Secretion
• Gastric Secretion
• Pancreatic Secretion
• Bile Secretion and Gallbladder Function
• Digestion and Absorption of Nutrients
• Fluid and Electrolyte Absorption
• Regulation and Food Intake

The Appendix contains a very valuable Review Examination section with 70 multiple-choice questions, with answers at its end. This will enable you to test your knowledge and recalling ability.

This is a compact but excellent book on the physiological aspects of gastroenterology. Dr. Johnson is to be congratulated for his work.

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Leonard R. Johnson, PhD is Thomas A. Gerwin professor of physiology at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, Tennessee.