Vasopressin is a hormone which has an increasingly important profile. Not only does it play a physiologically significant role in renal water regulation but it also has other renal actions and plays a role in overall cardiovascular control. Even more interesting is the recent growing interest in its potential effects on the brain, notably its influence on specific behaviours. This monograph about the polypeptide vasopressin covers all aspects relating to the production, control of release, and actions of this molecule within the body, including its roles as a hormone and as a central neurotransmitter. A consideration of the evolution of the molecule across the species and a brief historical perspective are also included. Clinical conditions associated with hypo- and hyper-production states are considered together with aspects of treatment, in addition to other clinical correlates. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction to Vasopressin (204 KB). Contents: Introduction to Vasopressin; Comparative and Evolutionary Aspects of Vasopressin; The Neurohypophysial System: Synthesis and Metabolism of Vasopressin; Vasopressin Receptors, the Signalling Cascade and Mechanisms of Action; Pharmacology of the Vasopressin Receptors; Vasopressin and Its Renal Effects; Vasopressin and the Cardiovascular System; Vasopressin and Its Interactions with Other Hormones and Control Systems; Understanding the Role of Vasopressin in the Hypothalamo-Pituitary Adrenocortical Axis; Vasopressin: The Central Systems; Vasopressin Secretion: Mechanisms of Control of Secretion from the Posterior Pituitary Gland; Clinical Aspects of Vasopressin. Readership: Academics, researchers, and postgraduates in the field of endocrinology.

A comparative overview of the effects of neuropeptides on behavior, examining parallel findings in both humans and non-human animals.

"The Handbook is intended to be a service to the neuroscience community, to help in finding available and useful information, to point out gaps in our knowledge, and to encourage continued studies. It represents the valuable contributions of the many authors of the chapters and the guidance of the editors and most important, it represents support for research in this discipline. Based on the rapid advances in the years since the second edition."--Publisher's website.

Around the world societies are facing growing aging populations with the concomitant increase in neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuropsychiatric disorders are organic brain diseases with psychiatric symptoms, as in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, that cause cognitive impairment, including dementia, amnesic syndrome, and personality–behavioral changes. As a clinical science, neuropsychiatry aims to explore the complex interrelationship between behavior and brain function from a variety of perspectives, including those of psychology, neurology, and psychiatry. This concise and updated monograph comprises the latest findings in the field and includes chapters on delusional symptoms, mood disorders and neurotic symptoms, cognitive impairment, behavioral and personality changes, and recently, cerebral alterations revealed in PTSD patients and in endogenous psychoses through neuroimaging and neuropathology. These findings will certainly widen the realm of neuropsychiatry going forward and will prove of great value to specialists as well as to academics and trainees in neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and clinical genetics. Ultimately, neuropsychiatry aims to prevent and reduce the suffering of individuals with the psychiatric symptoms of cerebral disorders.

This book, part of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine textbook series, teaches readers how to use hemodynamic monitoring, an essential skill for today’s intensivists. It offers a valuable guide for beginners, as well as for experienced intensivists who want to hone their skills, helping both groups detect an inadequacy of perfusion and make the right choices to achieve the main goal of hemodynamic monitoring in the critically ill, i.e., to correctly assess the cardiovascular system and its response to tissue oxygen demands. The book is divided into distinguished sections: from physiology to pathophysiology; clinical assessment and measurements; and clinical practice achievements including techniques, the basic goals in clinical practice as well as the more appropriate hemodynamic therapy to be applied in different conditions. All chapters use a learning-oriented style, with practical examples, key points and take home messages, helping readers quickly absorb the content and, at the same time, apply what they have learned in the clinical setting. The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine has developed the Lessons from the ICU series with the vision of providing focused and state-of-the-art overviews of central topics in Intensive Care and optimal resources for clinicians working in Intensive Care.

o history of endocrinology can be written without reference N to Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston, whose monumental study of the subject appeared in 1936 under the modest subtitle: The Endocrine Organs in Health and Disease with an Historical Review. It was based on the author's Fitzpatrick Lectures at the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1933 and 1934. The lectureship, which dates from 1901, is devoted to the History of Medicine. Rolleston's work as regards scholarship and delivery cannot be surpassed and will remain the solid basis for any further study. It is of interest to note that Rolleston gave the Fitzpatrick Lectures when he was 71 years of age and had his book published when he was 74. By that time he had achieved most of his professional aims and all the honours a distinguished medical career can offer (see Section II). He perceived clearly that endocrinology was "an enormous subject in a most active stage of growth", which "recently has received most valuable help from organic chemists, who have devoted much time to the elucidation of the structure, isolation and synthesis of the hormones". He remarked that the knowledge of endocrinology was expanding with extreme rapidity, and it has been suggested that in this respect it would appear to be itself influenced by a growth hormone. He continued: "Before 1890 there were comparatively few publications dealing with the ductless glands, but in 1913, A.

The aim of this comprehensive encyclopedia is to provide detailed information on intensive care medicine contributing to the broad field of emergency medicine. The wide range of entries in the Encyclopedia of Intensive Care Medicine are written by leading experts in the field. They will provide basic and clinical scientists in academia, practice, as well as industry with valuable information about the field of intensive care medicine, but also people in related fields, students and teachers will benefit from the important and relevant information on the most recent developments in emergency medicine. The Encyclopedia will contain 4 volumes, and published simultaneously online. The entire field has been divided into 14 sections. All entries will be arranged in alphabetical order with extensive cross-referencing between them.

In recent years there have been exciting scientific discoveries about a powerful hormone whose role in the human body has long been neglected. Oxytocin is the hormone involved in bonding, sex, childbirth, and breast-feeding, as well as in relaxation and feelings of calm. It is the mirror image of the stress hormone (adrenaline), which triggers the "fight or flight" systems in the body. Much has been written about the latter but the many-sided importance of oxytocin is currently known only to specialists in obstetrics, physiology, and psychiatry. The Oxytocin Factor, by Dr. Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg, is the first book on the subject for a general audience. The new research findings, as well as the potentially beneficial applications of this hormone in reducing anxiety states, stress, addictions, and problems of childbirth, are not only fascinating but of great significance to all our lives.

This monograph provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the field of vasopressin and oxytocin. In the summer of 1997, scientists from over 20 countries congregated in Montreal for the 1997 World Congress of Neurohypophysial Hormones, a conference that united the fields of vasopressin, neurohypophysis and oxytocin in a single joint meeting that gave rise to the present book. The organization of a joint meeting was prompted by several recent developments. Specifically the molecular characterization of the vasopressin/oxytocin receptor family made it mandatory to adopt an integrated view and to discuss the vasopressin/oxytocin ligand/receptor family as a whole. To ensure em phasis on novelty, the conference focused on advances made over the last two years and also included important contributions by scientists that had not previously been associated with the vasopressin/oxytocin field. Vasopressin and oxytocin are two neurohormones that exert a wide spectrum of cen tral and peripheral actions. Accordingly, the vasopressin/oxytocin field embraces a large number of different domains, ranging from neuroscience, endocrinology, and oncology to renal, reproductive, and cardiovascular physiology and pathology.