Humphrey P. Rang - Rang & Dales Pharmacology, 7th Edition: with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access

Rang and Dales Pharmacology

Seventh Edition

H P Rang, MB BS MA DPhil Hon FBPharmacolS FMedSci FRS

Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK

M M Dale, MB BCh PhD

Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

J M Ritter, DPhil FRCP FBPharmacolS FMedSci

Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Kings College London, London, UK

R J Flower, PhD DSc FBPharmacolS FMedSci FRS

Professor, Biochemical Pharmacology, The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

G Henderson, BSc PhD FBPharmacolS

Professor of Pharmacology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Churchill Livingstone

Front Matter

Copyright

is an imprint of Elsevier Inc.

2012, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

First edition 1987

Second edition 1991

Third edition 1995

Fourth edition 1999

Fifth edition 2003

Sixth edition 2007

The right of H P Rang, M M Dale, J M Ritter, R J Flower and G Henderson to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

With respect to any drug or pharmaceutical products identified, readers are advised to check the most current information provided (i) on procedures featured or (ii) by the manufacturer of each product to be administered, to verify the recommended dose or formula, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is the responsibility of practitioners, relying on their own experience and knowledge of their patients, to make diagnoses, to determine dosages and the best treatment for each individual patient, and to take all appropriate safety precautions.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

Main Edition

ISBN-13 978-0-7020-3471-8

International Edition

ISBN-13 978-1-4377-1933-8

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Rang & Dales pharmacology. 7th ed.

1. Pharmacology.

I. Pharmacology II. Rang, H. P. III. Dale, M. Maureen.

615.1-dc22

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Printed in China

Last digit is the print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Rang and Dales Pharmacology 7Th Edition Preface

In this edition, as in its predecessors, we set out not just to describe what drugs do but to emphasise the mechanisms by which they act. This entails analysis not only at the cellular and molecular level, where knowledge and techniques are advancing rapidly, but also at the level of physiological mechanisms and pathological disturbances. Pharmacology has its roots in therapeutics, where the aim is to ameliorate the effects of disease, so we have attempted to make the link between effects at the molecular and cellular level and the range of beneficial and adverse effects that humans experience when drugs are used for therapeutic or other reasons. Therapeutic agents have a high rate of obsolescence, and new ones appear each year. An appreciation of the mechanisms of action of the class of drugs to which a new agent belongs provides a good starting point for understanding and using a new compound intelligently.