Clinical Biochemistry: Metabolic and Clinical Aspects (3rd Edn)

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Clinical biochemistry: Metabolic and clinical aspects (3rd edn)
Article in Annals of Clinical Biochemistry · August 2014

DOI: 10.1177/0004563214545705 · Source: PubMed
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Book Reviews
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry
2015, Vol. 52(2) 303–304
acb.sagepub.com
Routine blood results explained (3rd edn)

bound to transporting proteins and are therefore bio-
By Andrew Blann logically active.’
Keswick, UK: M&K Publishing, 2013 One possible group of readers that neither author
150 pp, Price 25 considers are sixth-form school pupils who want to
ISBN 978-1-905539-88-8 know something about blood sciences. Readers who
get enquiries – for example in the course of open days
Blood results in clinical practice or national pathology weeks – could do a lot worse
than recommend these books to them, but they are
By Graham Basten unlikely to be of direct interest to laboratory
Keswick, UK: M&K Publishing, 2013 professionals.
80 pp, Price 16
ISBN 978-1-905539-73-4 William J Marshall
The London Clinic
These two books cover similar ground, their objectives Email: 1wjmarshall@doctors.net.uk
being primarily to assist healthcare professionals in the
ß The Author(s) 2014
understanding and interpretation of the more straight- Reprints and permissions:
forward (I abhor the term ‘routine’ – it suggests some- sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
thing being done automatically, without conscious acb.sagepub.com
doi: 10.1177/0004563214527189 available online at http://acb.sagepub.com
consideration) blood tests performed in clinical prac-
tice. ‘Healthcare professions’ in this context includes
nurses, phlebotomists, pharmacists, physiotherapists
and radiographers. Although the list of suggested read-
ers of ‘Blood results in Clinical Practice’ includes stu- Clinical biochemistry: Metabolic and
dents of biomedical science and medicine, both books
clinical aspects (3rd edn)
are too elementary to be of value to laboratory profes-
sionals. Both books cover aspects of haematology, Edited by William Marshall, Márta Lapsley,
immunology and biochemistry and aim to set the Andrew Day and Ruth Ayling
discussion of pathology in context by relating it to London: Churchill Livingstone, 2014
normal physiology. The scope of each is (deliberately) 932 pp, Price 79.99
limited: for example, reproductive hormone measure- ISBN: 978-0-7020-5140-1
ments, tumour markers, drugs and poisons are not
included. Clinical biochemistry by Marshall et al. is a library
Both books include case reports with those in classic and this new edition has been updated for the
‘Routine Blood Results Explained’ tending to be modern audience. In this case, the ‘modern audience’
more complex and having more detailed explanations. includes the more multidisciplinary health care scientist
The Preface to ‘Blood Results in Clinical Practice’ indi- and the metabolic medicine trainee. Therefore, the
cates that the book is also intended to be suitable as a book aims to cover areas such as haematology and
resource for patients and their relatives – a topical sub- immunology, to provide a suitable introduction for
ject at present. Analogy is often a useful tool in explain- clinical biochemists, and more information on the man-
ing medical matters to patients and this book includes a agement of metabolic disorders for medical trainees.
number, some of which have the added benefit of being Did the editors succeed?
amusing. Thus ‘Both T3 and T4 are usually transported As introductions to these specialties, the haematol-
[in the plasma] by chaperone proteins like albumin. ogy and immunology sections were complete, concise
They are like young girls from wealthy Victorian and interesting with excellent figures covering both ana-
families, who could not travel without an elderly lytical and clinical aspects. Therefore, the chapters are
female companion. ‘Free’ T4 and T3 are like an accessible introduction to these disciplines. With
Victorian urchins from poor families. They are not regard to medical management, there is some very
Downloaded from acb.sagepub.com by guest on March 13, 2015

304 Annals of Clinical Biochemistry 52(2)
useful information particularly in the diagnostic and As an additional bonus, there is an electronic ver-
therapeutic aspects of biochemistry and details of inves- sion of the textbook that can be accessed on the inter-
tigation protocols. You could not rely on this textbook net via a personal login. This login also permits one
alone for all management aspects, e.g. drug dosing and copy of the book to be downloaded on to a device of
interactions, but that is outside its scope and again it your choice for off-line browsing. This presented me
acts as a comprehensive and useful introduction for the with problems; firstly, I scratched through the number
clinical practitioner. in places owing to a very adherent silver coating.
The flow from one chapter to another is logical and However, I registered with the site and asked for
easy to follow so that if you wanted to read the book help and they uploaded the book on to my library
from cover to cover you would enjoy the development by the next day. The second problem was encountered
of the subject matter. Indeed, the chapters refer to one when trying to check that this had occurred by
another, preventing repetition and sign-posting you logging in at work; the site kept going into another
to pertinent sections. Basic laboratory science and prac- person’s account giving me access to their books
tice is covered in the first couple of chapters and I and email address. According to the website people,
would recommend this as a good read for all trainees this is supposedly a problem when using a public com-
starting in the discipline as it allows you to understand puter. Logging on at home with a device was fine;
day-to-day lab conversation, preventing much confu- I downloaded the app and accessed my library, com-
sion in your first posting. plete with my copy of the book. There are no extra
References are provided at the end of each chap- features like videos but the web addresses in the ref-
ter, most with helpful summaries explaining what erences are now links and the figures can be viewed
information they contain and saving the reader valu- separately and sent by email if you want to
able time searching for additional resources. The refer- share them.
ences provided appeared to me to be the most Marshall’s ‘Clinical Biochemistry: Metabolic and
important ones you would be expected to have read if Clinical Aspects’ does everything the title states, exten-
working in that field. The tables and figures are particu- sively covering the biochemical and medical aspects of
larly useful, both summarizing important information metabolism and its disorders. Additional resources
and helping quick identification of important causes would be required for FRCPath examinations to
and differential diagnoses. cover areas such as analytical biochemistry, inborn
Indexing, when tested, appears to be flawless. I was errors and mathematical/statistical techniques, but
asked a reasonably tricky question about biological this is outside the textbook’s remit; therefore, in my
variability and parathyroid hormone by a passing opinion, Marshall remains the authoritative corner-
endocrinologist and by consulting the book (I was stone for clinical biochemistry.
clutching it at the time) found the answer in less
than one minute; fairly impressive given the size of Kate Shipman
the textbook, which is however appropriate. At no Department of Biochemistry and Immunology,
point did I think too much information was being Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK
given and, though this may be regarded as overwhelm- Email: kate.shipman@nhs.net
ing, having now sat the FRCPath examinations
I think it covers the subject in the required depth
ß The Author(s) 2014
and breadth. It would be unrealistic to expect any Reprints and permissions:
trainee to memorize the entire book but you would sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
certainly be able to construct a sound essay on any acb.sagepub.com
doi: 10.1177/0004563214545705 available online at http://acb.sagepub.com
clinical or physiological topic by using Marshall as
your primary source.
Downloaded from acb.sagepub.com by guest on March 13, 2015

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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Clinical biochemistry: Metabolic and clinical aspects (3rd edn)

Article in Annals of Clinical Biochemistry · August 2014

Kate Elizabeth Shipman

Non-glycaemic factors and their effect on glycaemic markers View project

Urine Anti-hypertensive screening method View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Routine blood results explained (3rd edn)

Downloaded from acb.sagepub.com by guest on March 13, 2015

Downloaded from acb.sagepub.com by guest on March 13, 2015

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