Pulmonary and Critical Care Pharmacology and Therapeutics

This is a comprehensive resource for pharmacological therapeutics in pulmonary medicine. The scope of the text includes not only all of chest medicine, but the full scope of critical care as it relates to pulmonary disease. Starting with the basic principles of therapeutics, the review includes airway biology, the therapeutic action of specific agents and the latest trends in the management of pulmonary disease, from treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis to the pharmacology of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Other features include: detailed coverage of the re-emergence of tuberculosis, especially drug-resistant strains, and the association of this disease with HIV; a review of basic principles, including the pharmacotherapeutics and mechanism of action of pulmonary drugs; new therapeutic approaches to asthma, airway inflammatory diseases, pulmonary vascular disease and systemic sepsis; and an examination of how the new biology - cytokines, adhesion molecule antagonists, anti-inflammatory agents and receptor antagonists - is changing therapeutic strategies.