This issue of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, Guest Edited by Dr. Mark B. Stephens, is devoted to Cardiovascular Disease. Articles in this issue include: State of the Heart: Overview of disease burden of cardiovascular disease from an epidemiologic perspective; Heavy Heart: Economic burden of heart disease with projections/implications for impact on the health care system; Prevention of Heart Disease; Coronary Artery Disease; Congestive Heart Failure; Valvular Heart Disease; Peripheral Vascular Disease; The Athlete's Heart and Sudden Death; Metabolic Syndrome: systems thinking in heart disease; Women and Heart Disease; Heart Disease in Children; and Cardiac Imaging.

The Management of Lithiasis: The Rational Deployment of Technology addresses the latest developments in the treatment of urolithiasis and biliary stones. The emphasis of the book is on the selection of the cheapest and most effective treatment and is based upon the experience of editors and authors from both the Western countries as well as developing countries in Asia. With health care budgets becoming increasingly restricted, there is a growing interest in cost-controlled and effective treatment methods. This volume covers urinary tract calculi as well as biliary tract calculi, including epidemiology, etiology, choices in the management of calculi, efficacy and safety of treatment and the prevention of urolithiasis.

Despite what you may have read in the popular press and in social media, Precision Medicine is not devoted to finding unique treatments for individuals, based on analyzing their DNA. To the contrary, the goal of Precision Medicine is to find general treatments that are highly effective for large numbers of individuals who fall into precisely diagnosed groups. We now know that every disease develops over time, through a sequence of defined biological steps, and that these steps may differ among individuals, based on genetic and environmental conditions. We are currently developing rational therapies and preventive measures, based on our precise understanding of the steps leading to the clinical expression of diseases. Precision Medicine and the Reinvention of Human Disease explains the scientific breakthroughs that have changed the way that we understand diseases, and reveals how medical scientists are using this new knowledge to launch a medical revolution.

Rick and Brenda's lives were changed forever when Rick went to the doctor to get a prescription refill. The doctor unexpectedly decided to perform a prostate exam. When he did, he felt a suspicious lump. Weeks later, a biopsy confirmed that Rick had prostate cancer. As a couple, they found their lives changed in unexpected ways following robotic surgery. They decided to share an intimate glimpse into their lives after surgery so other couples would be more prepared than they were. If you are thinking about surgery, or if you just had surgery, you will want to read about their experiences and the life lessons they learned along the way.

Nicotine and Other Tobacco Compounds in Neurodegenerative and Psychiatric Diseases: Epidemiological Data on Smoking and Preclinical and Clinical Data on Nicotine provides a comprehensive summary of the epidemiological data on smoking and several neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and ADHD, as well as preclinical and clinical data on the effects of nicotine. Despite the obvious and undisputed harmful nature of smoking, evidence suggests that some tobacco and tobacco smoke-derived constituents may offer neuroprotective effects, possibly in combinations, rather than individually. This unprecedented book describes the complex relationships between smoking and neurological disease and the bioactive compounds found in tobacco. It provides a comprehensive review of nicotine and other compounds found in tobacco plant, with scientific evidence of neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects that may act in conjunction with nicotine to exert neuroprotective effects observed in smokers. By presenting findings beyond harmful cigarette smoke effects, attention can be drawn to individual compounds of tobacco that may serve as inspiration for further therapy development.

This book is the one I wish I'd come across when I joined the fraternity or soon thereafter. It takes a hard look at some of the non-medical issues you may not have thought about. If it has succeeded, you'll recognize them when they turn up in your life. You'll learn how some other men have dealt with them and get ideas about how you might manage them in your own way. Not least, you'll discover some new ways to think about your situation.

What this book is not about is treating prostate cancer. There are countless volumes on that topic. It's about dealing and living with prostate cancer; about handling unfamiliar situations that are going to arise; about regaining a sense of control; about living productively, well and yes, happily to the outerlimits of possibilities.

This issue of Medical Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Michael P. Pignone and Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, is devoted to Disease Prevention. Articles in this issue address prevention for various diseases, including: Breast Cancer; Cervical Cancer; Colorectal Cancer; Lung Cancer; Prostate Cancer; and Screening for Depression. Lipids, CV Risk Assessment, Blood Pressure, and Aspirin for Primary Prevention will also be addressed.

Chronic Medical Disease and Cognitive Aging: Toward a Healthy Body and Brain explores the important and often overlooked connection between how chronic medical diseases of the body can affect cognitive function and brain health. As population demographics shift to that of an aging population it has become more important to understand and improve cognitive function in late life. Chronic medical diseases often increase the risk of cognitive impairment, and those with cognitive impairment may be less able to effectively manage their medical conditions, suggesting a reciprocal relationship may exist where medical disease impacts cognition that in turn may exacerbate physical health. Chronic Medical Disease and Cognitive Aging discusses current research on the association between a variety of chronic medical diseases and cognition and, where appropriate, promising interventions or accepted treatment strategies. While a cure for many diseases continues to be elusive, insights garnered from the interplay between diseases of the body and mind may help point the way to novel therapeutic strategies to improve cognitive function in late life.

This issue of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinics, edited by Drs. Amin Al- Ahmad and Francis Marchlinski, will cover Ventricular Tachycardia in Structural Heart Disease. Topics discussed in the issue include, but are not limited to, ECG localization of VT in patients with structural heart disease; Anatomy for VT ablation in structural heart disease; Ablation of VT in ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease; Pace mapping; Ablation of VT in ARVD; Epicardial VT ablation; and VT clinical trials, among others.

Inner Hygiene explores the serious health threat of constipation, and discusses the extraordinary variety of preventive and curative measures that have been developed to save people from the toxic effects of intestinal irregularity. The book examines the evolution over the last two centuries of the belief that constipation is a disease brought on by an unnatural lifestyle of urban, industrial society. Particular attention is given to the many constipation therapies that people have used, including laxatives, enemas, mineral waters, bran cereals, yogurts, electrotherapy, calisthenics, rectal dilation devices, and many other remedies. The story is carried up to the present and demonstrates that many of constipation therapies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are continuing into the twenty-first.

This next volume in Research in the Sociology of Health Care covers a variety of important social factors and their relationship to health and health care inequities both in the United States and the rest of the world. The authors of this volume explore issues related to infectious diseases and various chronic health problems. One section focuses on Covid 19 and issues of kidney disease, face masks and social values, pandemic experiences in rural parts of the United States, and in urban India. Other topics that are discussed focus on issues outside the United States such as in Nepal, Ecuador, and broader cross-national comparisons. Several papers focus on health care system issues within the United States including micro hospitals in Texas, evidence-based medicine, and trends in health disparities in the Latina population in the United States. Written from a sociological and broader social science approach, the papers provide important information both about broad trends in the US and other countries and some specific considerations of issues from a social perspective as linked to Covid 19.

This book describes how epigenetic context, in a large sense, affects gene expression and the development of an organism, using the asymptotic limit theorems of information theory to construct statistical models useful in data analysis. The approach allows deep understanding of how embedding context affects development. We find that epigenetic information sources act as tunable catalysts, directing ontogeny into characteristic pathways, a perspective having important implications for epigenetic epidemiology. In sum, environmental stressors can induce a broad spectrum of developmental dysfunctions, and the book explores a number of pandemic chronic diseases, using U.S. data at different scales and levels of organization. In particular, we find the legacy of slavery has been grossly compounded by accelerating industrial decline and urban decay. Individual chapters are dedicated to obesity and its sequelae, coronary heart disease, cancer, mental disorders, autoimmune dysfunction, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions. Developmental disorders are driven by environmental factors channeled by historical trajectory and are unlikely to respond to medical interventions at the population level in the face of persistent individual and community stress. Drugs powerful enough to affect deleterious epigenetic programming will likely have side effects leading to shortened lifespan. Addressing chronic conditions and developmental disorders requires significant large-scale changes in public policy and resource allocation.

William H. Foege, one of the most respected leaders in global public health, takes readers on a tour of his time at the CDC. In its seventy years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has evolved from a malaria control program to an institution dedicated to improving health for all people across the world. The Fears of the Rich, The Needs of the Poor is a revealing account of the CDC's development by its former director, public health luminary William H. Foege. Dr. Foege tells the stories of pivotal moments in public health, including the eradication of smallpox (made possible due in part to Foege's research) and the discovery of Legionnaires' disease, Reye syndrome, toxic shock syndrome, and HIV/AIDS. With good humor and optimism, he recounts the various crises he surmounted, from threats of terrorist attacks to contentious congressional hearings and funding cuts. Highlighting the people who made possible some of public health's biggest successes, Foege outlines the work required behind the scenes and describes the occasional tensions between professionals in the field and the politicians in charge of oversight. In recent years, global public health initiatives have come from unanticipated sources. Giants in the field now include President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who promote programs aimed at neglected diseases. Melinda and Bill Gates have invigorated the field through research and direct program support, especially in the area of vaccine-preventable diseases. And the Merck Mectizan program has dramatically reduced river blindness in Africa. Foege has been involved in all of these efforts, among others, and he brings to this book the knowledge and wisdom derived from a long and accomplished career. The Fears of the Rich, The Needs of the Poor is an inviting but unvarnished account of that career and offers a plethora of lessons for those interested in public health.

The cutting-edge Purine and Pyrimidine Metabolism in Man IX brings together contributions from internationally recognized researchers in the fields of molecular genetics, biochemical pharmacology, biochemistry, developmental biology, immunology, and epidemiology. This research has been crucial for the develoment of potent anticancer and antiviral drugs. A sampling of topics includes -- gout -- adenosine -- inborn errors of purine and pyrimidine metabolism -- mutations -- effects of hypoxia, free radicals, or reperfusion injury -- hot research areas, and -- cell differentiation and malignancies.