Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine [Paperback]

David S. Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2006

This accessible work is the first in more than seventy-five years to discuss the many roles of adrenaline in regulating the "inner world" of the body. David S. Goldstein, an international authority and award-winning teacher, introduces new concepts concerning the nature of stress and distress across the body's regulatory systems. Discussing how the body's stress systems are coordinated, and how stress, by means of adrenaline, may affect the development, manifestations, and outcomes of chronic diseases, Goldstein challenges researchers and clinicians to use scientific integrative medicine to develop new ways to treat, prevent, and palliate disease.

Goldstein explains why a former attorney general with Parkinson disease has a tendency to faint, why young astronauts in excellent physical shape cannot stand up when reexposed to Earth's gravity, why professional football players can collapse and die of heat shock during summer training camp, and why baseball players spit so much.

Adrenaline and the Inner World is designed to supplement academic coursework in psychology, psychiatry, endocrinology, cardiology, complementary and alternative medicine, physiology, and biochemistry. It includes an extensive glossary.

(2006)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The only book you'll need to thoroughly understand the topic and its related health issues.

(California Bookwatch )

An interesting, well-written book geared to academics and professionals but also intended for patients and people supporting them.

(Choice )

About the Author

David S. Goldstein, M.D., Ph.D., is an attending physician at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, and a senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

(2006)

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (February 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801882893
• ISBN-13: 978-0801882890
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe The Most Lucid Book About Medicine in Decades, May 17, 2009

By 

Robert Daly - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine (Paperback)

This remarkable book is both accessible to the layman, and should be required reading for physicians. It delivers so much more than what the title promises, in that it is really a philosophical treatise on how medicine should work, based on an insightful appraisal of how the body and the mind maintain "homeostasis", or steady-state operation. For anyone who has questioned the fairly narrow focus on adrenal steroids that occupies clinical endocrinology, it is a revelation to see how crucial the other adrenal hormones, especially adrenaline, are to the harmony of both the body and the mind. Dr. Goldstein teaches that control of basic body functions as well as some aspects of mental states is accomplished by dynamic, complex, interdependent feedback loops that often cross any putative body/mind boundary. He delineates the key control systems, explaining along the way how they can affect multiple biological variables, influence mood and behavior, and interact with each other. Dr. Goldstein gives a wonderful historical perspective, teaching that human understanding (and sometimes tragic misunderstanding) of all of this has evolved over thousands of years, and that the way this understanding evolved impacts patient care today. In an era when practitioners too often resort to diagnoses of convenience in order to dismiss patients whose complaints are complex, an honest reading of this book by physicians should provide scientific support in finding better ways to help. For the patient with a disability such as autonomic failure this book could be like food to a starving man, holding out hope that a careful analysis of the dynamic response of these control systems could yield at least an insight into the cause of the disability, if not also an effective treatment. Using extremely engaging and entertaining writing, fascinating references to the Bible, biographies of historical figures in medicine, and clever but simple analogies Dr. Goldstein makes the complex immediately intuitive. But, what is truly amazing is the economy with which he disposes of certain philosophical mistakes that even now distort patient care, especially the notion of body-mind duality championed by Descartes. He does a superb job of arguing against the still widely accepted idea that the mind and the body are somehow separate, only connected by a one-way street where affectations of the mind cause physical illness, while the reverse is rarely the case. In fact, as a philosophical treatise on medicine the book really packs a punch in terms of the sheer territory that it so accurately covers. For such a readable book, this is a real accomplishment.
For anyone interested in how the body controls its basic functions, what can and does go wrong, a solid introduction to the idea of feedback loops, and the definition and medical implications of stress, this book really stands alone. As a vision for how medicine should be it shines a bright light in corners where much ignorance still lurks

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative, But Dodges Human Implications, February 1, 2011

By 

Passionate Therapist (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine (Paperback)

There is a dearth of material for the serious reader on the autonomic nervous system. It seems that either there is a one-page article on the rudiments, or some incredibly specialized and narrow research articles.

It was in that context that I ordered this book. As a nurse and therapist interested in the body-mind-heart connection, I was encouraged by the word integrative in the title. I had hoped that the role of emotions, human relations, social pressures etc... would be discussed. Instead, the book seems to be a reductionistic, allopathic physicians guess at 'integration' The author seems to guess that a few limited anecdotes from common real life situations (like panic attacks) would make clinical medicine more human. Hmmmm. Given how little else there is out there, you might see for yourself.

Update 2011: The dearth is less! See The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars neurochemistry for the non-scientist, non-dummy, December 28, 2009

By 

Diana Carra Haugh (Donaldson, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Adrenaline and the Inner World: An Introduction to Scientific Integrative Medicine (Paperback)

'Adrenaline and the Inner World' is one of those rare scholarly works that is accessible to the lay person. Dr. Goldstein's discussion of the members of the adrenaline family reads like a fascinating college lecture by a polymath professor who continuously digresses into wonderful little asides. What would otherwise be a dry recitation of chemical interactions is enriched with tidbits from medical and Hebrew history, philosophy and personal observation. I purchased this book because I met Dr. Goldstein while I was participating in a Clinical Study at NIH. I was taken with his self deprecating humor and willingness to answer questions from someone with little background knowledge. What makes this book worth reading is the illustration of difficult concepts wtih observations from many different fields. The book's conclusion, however, seems incomplete. The narrative seems to end mid-thought, as though the author was distracted by some new and startling observation that demanded his attention. One hopes it will produce a sequel, and we'll be able to hear the rest of the story.