Demographic changes due to improved life expectancy and access to medical care has increased the number of people aged 65 years and beyond. This raises an important new challenge for healthcare professionals. Changes in organ functions, homeostatic mechanisms and receptor responsiveness impair drug distribution, metabolism and excretion, and reduce the effectiveness of medicines among geriatric patients. As a consequence, management of medical regimens is much more challenging in the elderly than in younger adult patients. Elderly patients are also more susceptible than other age groups to certain drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions and adverse drug reactions owing to the number of drugs administered. Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication is a common finding in the elderly healthcare and it is considered a public health issue related to morbidity, mortality and health care resource use. Psychopharmacological Issues in Geriatrics can be regarded as a ‘pharmacovigilance’ manual for elderly patients as it presents recommendations for geriatric prescription with specific considerations. The book also provides a comprehensive review of specific classes of psychopharmacological agents used to treat geriatric patients, including antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics and mood stabilizers. The book is intended as a handbook for general medical and nursing practitioners.

Substance and Non substance Related Addiction Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment is an accessible handbook about the two main types of addiction disorders. It is divided into three sections which cover 1) the scientific underpinnings of addiction disorders (neurobiology, addiction neural reward pathways, genetic and psychosocial basis of addiction, screening and treatment), 2) information about substances commonly used by addicts (pharmacology, diagnostics and treatment considerations) and 3) current understandings of the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral problems (such as gambling), respectively. Key features: -covers both substance abuse and behavioral problems -uses a reader friendly format with a patient education handout style -includes key learning points listed in each chapter -includes clinical vignettes which outline brief history, evaluation, diagnostic considerations with successful pharmacological, psychological and social interventions -includes references in each chapter The handbook meets the information needs of medical students and professionals (family physicians, nurses, addiction therapists, psychiatry residents, and other health care professionals) interested in the primary care of patients afflicted with addiction disorders.

Advances in Interventional Pulmonology is a comprehensive, evidence-based text on diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopic procedures. This volume covers basic and advanced procedures in the subspecialty of interventional pulmonology (IP). The material presented in this text book is also supported with expert opinion (where evidence is lacking) of authors who are leading researchers in the field of IP from around the world. The book delivers information about anatomical, physiological, pathological, and therapeutic concepts in IP to physicians and is, therefore, suitable for readers having different levels of expertise. The authors have also discussed novel and experimental techniques, and procedures when indicated for the benefit of research oriented readers.

This reference presents basic concepts relevant to respiratory function in normal and diseased states.The volume stresses a quantitative approach to physical parameters used as indicators of normal and diseased physiological respiratory function. The contents of this reference allow medical students and physiology researchers to become “clinical detectives” - by presenting information that can be useful for enhancing their understanding of the major abnormalities in terms of ventilation, pulmonary blood perfusion, venous admixture, wasted alveolar ventilation, tissue oxygenation, acid-base balance, respiratory mechanics, control of breathing, etc. This book is intended for first and second year medical students as well as for residents and fellows, especially in disciplines such as anesthesiology and pulmonary medicine. In addition, the unique mechanistic approach of this book also provides a useful reference for teachers of respiratory physiology who are not involved in respiratory research or those who have not been specifically trained in organ-system physiology. This book thus fills this gap by providing a modern physiology faculty some tools for learning the “nuts-and-bolts” of lung physiology and associated respiratory care.

This Ebook is edited by Sandra Hodge, a recognized expert in the field of macrophage dysfunction in chronic lung disease. The book consists of 8 chapters which provide a full coverage of macrophage function in both healthy and chronically diseased lungs, starting with the regulation of macrophage homoestasis to altered macrophage recognition and clearance of pathogens and apoptotic cells in the lung before moving on to macrophage targeted treatment options for chronic lung diseases. The important problem of oxidative and carbonyl stress in the lung and its impact on macrophage function is discussed. Additional chapters deal with the role of disordered macrophage function in cancer progression and the role of chronic alcohol ingestion of macrophage function. Importantly, the book integrates both respiratory cell biology and clinical medicine. The concept of failed macrophage function with regard to chronic lung disease has recently been the topic of intensive research. Key advances in our knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in defective macrophage function have paved the way for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. For this reason the book can be recommended without reservation to a wide spectrum of readers including students, respiratory cell biologists and respiratory clinicians.

This e-book is a review on current understanding of the role of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the lung in health and disease. Topics covered include 1) the expression, function and activation of TLRs during bacterial, viral and fungal infection of the airways, 2) the role of TLRs in the pathogenesis of genetic and environmental pulmonary disorders, and 3) TLR biology in lung transplantation. Each chapter highlights recent advances in a selected domain in lung disease research. This e-book serves as a comprehensive resource for both scientists and clinicians studying innate immune mechanisms in the lung and provides a single reference comprising both basic and specialized information.

This reference presents insights into the development of bone marrow aspirate stem cell (BMAC) technology and the potential role of stem cell expansion in the regeneration of damaged and deficient musculoskeletal tissues. The book features valuable contributions from stem cell therapy experts from around the world. The authors explain the production, proliferation, differentiation into various tissues, and medical applications of stem cells. In addition to work on the use of stem cells in the treatment of non-unions and bone defects, the book explores the potential for articular cartilage regeneration, repair of tendon injuries, the treatment of degenerative joint disease, revascularization of bone and regeneration of damaged nerves as well as spinal cord injury. The authors also explain ethical challenges faced by researchers and public authorities working on stem cells and the varying constraints on the development of this technology around the world. Scientists and surgeons, alike, who are involved in the fields of orthopaedics, rheumatology, stem cell and regenerative medicine will benefit from the illuminating snapshot of the applications of BMAC stem cell expansion presented in the volume.

Research into stem cells started in the 1960s with experiments on spleen cultures. Evans and Kaufman made a breakthrough in mouse embryo culturing and embryonic stem cell extraction in 1981, followed by the work of Thomson in 1998 on the technique for extracting human embryonic stem cells. Since then, stem cell research has rapidly expanded as a therapeutic avenue for different diseases in humans. This book explains the basic developmental biology of stem cells including the development of stem cells during the implantation stage in utero to the regulation of stem cell division. Medical applications of stem cells in the therapy of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and bone diseases are also explained in subsequent chapters. The book also explains the effect of parasitic cells on stem cell growth. Concepts in the book are explained in a simple clear manner, making this book an informative reference for non-experts, students and professionals in the field of biology and medicine.

Pluripotent stem cells have garnered tremendous interest in recent years, which is primarily driven by the hope of finding a cure for several debilitating human diseases. Cell transplantation (regeneratve medicine) offers considerable therapeutic potential. The procedure employs pluripotent stem cells as these have the inherent ability to reproduce indefinitely and have the ability to produce over 200 different types of cells constituting the human body. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) from embryos and their successful culture in a petri dish in 1998 has been considered as a major breakthrough that is set to shape stem cell research in the 21st century. This has been followed by another remarkable breakthrough in 2006 when scientists demonstrated for the first time that such pluripotent stem cells could be produced from adult somatic tissues without having to use human embryos. These pluripotent stem cells are called the induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Both hESCs and iPS cells - highly versatile cells – could pave the way for alleviating patients suffering from diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and many more. This eBook brings together the information from the last decade on stem cells, compiled by reputed research experts. Readers will learn all aspects of pluripotent stem cells from basic biology to their use in understanding disease process, toxicology, drug discovery and in developing therapeutic strategies. Research on these cells, including transitional and translational aspects, is explained with the aid of extensive figures, colour photographs, and tables. This eBook is a valuable resource for undergraduates, postgraduates, scientists, embryologists, tissue engineers, doctors and biomedical scientists interested in stem cell research and medicine.

Stem cell and regenerative medicine research is a hot area of research which promises to change the face of medicine as it will be practiced in the years to come. Challenges in 21st century to combat cancer, Alzheimer and related diseases may well be addressed employing stem cell therapies and tissue regeneration. The first volume of ‘Frontiers in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research’ features reviews written by experts in key areas of stem cells and regenerative medicine. It summarizes the safety assessment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in musculoskeletal implantation that can bridge the gap between translation from animals to humans. The most prevalent strategies to improve immune reconstitution after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have also been focused upon. This is particularly important because chemotherapy and pre-transplant conditioning impairs thymic function. The application of regenerative medicine for repair of damaged cornea and ocular has also been discussed. The emerging techniques for tissue engineering of functional corneal equivalents represent a new and fascinating way to treat corneal diseases. The area of recently used nanofibrous substrates, as an alternative tool for the expansion and differentiation of embryonic stem cells, has been included in this e-book. In future, such technologies could promote the use of hESC-derived cells for clinical applications successfully.