Marshall F. Gilula

Eating, Loving and Dying: A Psychology of Appetites

Physicians who truly understand obesity will find Daniel Cappons pithy monograph conservative, well written, and accurate, but narrow in scope. The authors chief point is that overweight is caused by a combination of overeating and insufficient exercise. Although the thesis is hardly original, it can be scathingly effective when applied. Dr. Cappons psychoanalytic background and extensive experience in treating both obesity and cachexia make for an interesting and well-crafted approach to a familiar problem. One current research trend is to lump total drug and food abuse into the category of substance abuse . This concept can give the physician options of perceiving important similarities between obesity, alcoholism, and heroin addiction. All forms of substance abuse have in common two features: (1) an imbalance in the metabolism or utilization of the substance, and (2) lack of proper exercise and mind-body balance that choice forms of corrective exercise may help to induce. Eating,

Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin

As the author of over 30 books, Ashley Montagu will not disappoint his followers with this latest volume. One thesis of this book is that the skin is one of the more important organ systems of the body. Although few can deny this obvious point, critical readers may object to Montagus interpretations that include over-generalizations from research in non-human species, overdrawn arguments, and selection of integumentary conclusions from studies involving multiple organ systems. The books weakest point is its discussion of integrative functions performed by the skin in relation to other organ systems of the body. During early life, the skin functions as an encompassing sensory system which provides the organism with a barrage of data about the world outside. Individuals such as Helen Keller expanded the possibilities of the skin as a sensory system. She was able to develop her mind largely in response to tactile stimulation. More usually,

Social Medicine in Eastern Europe: The Organization of Health Services and the Education of Medical Personnel in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland

Despite postwar depletion of health resources and manpower, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland have dramatically increased the level of health services offered to individual citizens. Dr. Weinerman and his wife-collaborator, Shirley, studied medical facilities in these countries during the spring of 1967. Their well-organized and clearly written analysis describes each countrys health program in terms of its theoretical organization and goals as well as the actual delivery of health care. Although technical quality of more intricate health services falls below that found in many Western countries, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland have achieved sophistication of healthcare planning and organization that Western countries could well emulate. As an illuminating example of critical research, this book will interest health planners of any political persuasion. Three primary Eastern European health goals have been reduction of communicable disease, maternal and child health care, and environmental sanitation and hygiene. Standards and policy are set by national government,

The Structure and Functions of the Brain

Internationally-minded scientists bewail the difficulty in evaluating Russian scientific literature. Indiana University Press dissolves part of the language barrier with publication of Sarkisovs volume. The translation is satisfactory albeit occasionally stiff and cumbersome. S. A. Sarkisov directs the Moscow Institute of Brain Research. Reviewing 30 years of research from the Institute, he deftly places this material into historical as well as phylogenetic perspective. A polemic against Pribrams concept of spontaneous receptor activity spices the introduction. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a superb version of functional neuroanatomy and neurohistology. Pavlov considered the cortex an aggregate of analyzers, which Sarkisov describes in detail as motor, cutaneous, optic, auditory, vestibular, olfactory, taste, and interoceptive. He summarizes cytoarchitectonic (cell structure) and myeloarchitectonic (fibrous structure) studies of the cerebral cortex. There are excellent reviews of Soviet research. Sarkisov elucidates histochemical topographies of the cortex with regard to various respiratory enzymes, acetylcholine, and cholinesterase, but there