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The Lower Brainstem and Bodily Homeostasis WILLIAM W BLESSING Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997 419 pp.
Although this book is not one for the bedside table for a night-time read, William Blessing has put together a text oozing with scientific merit. As neurosurgery, in some centres, is starting to evaluate microvascular decompression of the brainstem to treat essential hypertension and perhaps even adult onset diabetes, the scientific basis of such practice needs to be understood. Surgery on the brainstem for lesions such as intrinsic tumours and cavernous haemangioma will also benefit from a greater understanding of the functional topography of the region.
Written as a thesis, the author takes the reader steadily through the experimental evidence of the control of homeostatic mechanisms mediated by the brainstem. At times, though, for the neurosurgeon, the detail makes it difficult to extract information that may be of interest. I certainly advise perseverance. The author has been so painstakingly thorough that his book must be the product of many years work. The collected references span 134 pages on their own.
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