Pills, Potions, and Poisons: How Drugs Work Book

From barbiturates to Bacardi Breezers, from antibiotics to Earl Grey tea, human beings depend on drugs to an extraordinary degree: whether it's cancer, boredom, frigidity or shyness, we snort, drink, pop, smoke and inject to cure or alleviate the ills of existence. Without drugs life would be unimaginably different--and unimaginably painful. Given this universal drug culture, a book which attempts to explain the whats, whys and wherefores of the thousands of drugs we use can only be timely and helpful. But professional physicians and pharmacologists Stone and Darlington have also striven to make their text stimulating and enjoyable--and to a large extent they have succeeded. The format is simple. It takes the reader through the pharmacopoeia illness by illness, with attendant, rigorously scientific, but never obscure explanations as to the provenance, virtues and side-effects of the relevant medication. The historical and ancillary material deftly woven into the text is sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious. Dominant male chimps enjoy a natural 'mental' Prozac; Queen Victoria's doctor thought epilepsy was caused by masturbation; eighty years ago kits of morphine and syringes could be bought at stores as 'a useful present'. Between these fascinating asides the authors discuss issues like schizophrenia, heart disease and depression--all of which have seen revolutions in the pharmacological treatment available in the last few years. After several chapters on recreational drugs, toxicology, and "aphrodisiacs", the book culminates with a short but perceptive essay on the development and marketing of new drugs--such as tolcapone. Tolcapone seems to offer exciting possibilities in the treatment of Parkinsonism, but it also causes, in some, liver damage. The book's clear-headed analysis of this complex dilemma exemplifies why Pills, Potions and Poisons will be of value to anyone who has ever taken drugs. Which, of course, means everyone.--Sean ThomasRead More