For practitioners at all stages of experience, diseases of the parathyroid glands are not easily deciphered. There are many subtleties to its pathology and diagnosis. Today, the wealth of new information from molecular medicine makes it very challenging for the individual practitioner to have a complete picture of these entities. "Diseases of the Parathyroid Glands" addresses these issues by offering a concise, user-friendly text that provides state-of-the-art background on mineral physiology and its regulation and couples this to a variety of clinical topics of parathyroid gland pathology. Introductory chapters cover calcium regulation and parathyroid gland physiology, drawing upon many of the new aspects of glandular control mechanisms beyond the classical ones associated with calcium alone. The majority of the text covers clinical problems. Although most chapters address problems in adult medicine, three separate chapters are devoted to pediatric problems of hyper- and hypoparathyroidsm and parathormone resistance states. In addition, there are several chapters on less common but equally challenging problems such as parathyroid cancer, calciphylaxis, cystic lesions of the glands, and ectopic glandular disease. The final chapters detail the techniques of parathyroid gland imaging and surgical treatment. Practical and an invaluable addition to the literature, "Diseases of the Parathyroid Glands" is an indispensable reference for anyone interested in parathyroid disease.

Despite public perception, osteoporosis remains a widespread, devastating disease, and a very serious and costly public health threat. Early detection and treatment must be a priority for primary health care providers. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the principal x-ray technology used to diagnose osteoporosis in its early, asymptomatic stages, to assess treatment efficacy, and to guide treatment decisions. It remains the gold standard today." ""A DXA Primer for the Practicing Clinician: A Case-Based Manual for Understanding and Interpreting Bone Densitometry" is developed around real cases of patients DXA measurements. The content is derived from presentations given by the authors at a national society training course and exemplifies not only the complete body of education provided through these lectures but the full range of previously undiscussed nuances as well. This practical, easy-to-read title provides the day to day problems of DXA usage that new users may encounter and that training courses do not have time to provide in detail. The central focus of the book is the presentation of what is normal and what is problematic in the use of DXA, depicting various scenarios with real case histories of patients, their corresponding DXA images and the data that explain the problems. Unique in approach and presentation, this case-based manual will be of immense value to all practitioners -- and students interested in providing optimal diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. "