This book arises from a two-fold conviction. The first is that autonomy, despite recent critiques about its importance in bioethics and philosophy of medicine, and the traditional resistance of medicine to its "intrusion" into the doctor-patient relation, is a fundamental building block of an individual's identity and mechanisms for dealing with illness, disease, and incapacity. As such it is an essential component in the health care professional's armamentarium employed to bring about healing. Furthennore, it functions in a similar way to assist the health professional in his or her relations to the sick and injured. The second conviction follows from the fITst. Autonomy is far more complex than appears from the philosophical use of the concept. In this conviction we join those who have criticized the over-reliance on autonomy in modem, secular bioethics originating in the United States, but gaining ascendancy in other cultures. This critique relies on appeals to the richer contexts of persons' lives. Elsewhere the contemporary critique of autonomy appears in a variety of alternative ethical models like narrative ethics, casuist ethics, and contextualism. Indeed, postmodern criticism of all bioethics argues that there is no defensible foundation for claims that one ought to respect autonomy or any other principle as a way of ensuring that one is ethical.

This book arises from a two-fold conviction. The first is that autonomy, despite recent critiques about its importance in bioethics and philosophy of medicine, and the traditional resistance of medicine to its "intrusion" into the doctor-patient relation, is a fundamental building block of an individual's identity and mechanisms for dealing with illness, disease, and incapacity. As such it is an essential component in the health care professional's armamentarium employed to bring about healing. Furthennore, it functions in a similar way to assist the health professional in his or her relations to the sick and injured. The second conviction follows from the fITst. Autonomy is far more complex than appears from the philosophical use of the concept. In this conviction we join those who have criticized the over-reliance on autonomy in modem, secular bioethics originating in the United States, but gaining ascendancy in other cultures. This critique relies on appeals to the richer contexts of persons' lives. Elsewhere the contemporary critique of autonomy appears in a variety of alternative ethical models like narrative ethics, casuist ethics, and contextualism. Indeed, postmodern criticism of all bioethics argues that there is no defensible foundation for claims that one ought to respect autonomy or any other principle as a way of ensuring that one is ethical.

Patients have personal strategies in solving the problems concerning their illness. Doctors have personal and professional strategies in solving the problems with their patients. This book explores the problematic triangle between doctors, patients and the illness, using illustrations from internal medicine, nephrology, cardiology, oncology and neurology. Enhancement of the doctor-patient interaction is an important contribution to the mutual reduction of stress and therefore the improvement of the course of (long-term) illness. The first part of the book describes reasons why the partnership between doctor and patient should be improved. The second part offers concrete and practical options to achieve that improvement.

Since the discovery of endothelin, major advances have been made in understanding the molecular structure and function of the endothelin receptors. At least two subtypes of receptors, designated ETA and ETB, have been identified through biochemical and pharmacological techniques. These subtypes are cloned and expressed and additional subtypes appear to exist. The biochemical events involved in the signal transduction processes that ultimately activate the cellular machinery involved in the end-organ responses are presented, as are the mechanisms by which the receptors recognize specific and different G-proteins. Functions mediated by the receptors at the cellular, tissue and, organ level are reviewed in detail, as well as the roles that they may play a part in the physiologic and pathophysiologic processes in animals and in humans.
This book is unique in its breadth of scope. The most recent and important advances, from the intracellular level of the nucleus to the functional effect that endothelin receptors mediate in intact organs, are compiled and reviewed.