The new edition of the "Oxford Textbook of Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Therapy" continues to provide medical students and clinicians with an insight into why drugs have their therapeutic effects, by presenting the basic pharmacological principles of pharmacology as they effect the patient. An understanding of these clinical pharmacological principles is essential for rational, safe, effective, and economical prescribing. The text shows how knowledge of the scientific basis of drug action is applied in a clinical context to devise the most effective treatments for disease and to maximize the therapeutic effects of the drugs being used. This new edition includes an appraisal of the value of evidence-based medicine and a greater discussion of issues in genetics. There are specialist contributors for areas of infectious disease, gastro-intestinal disorders, blood disorders, general anaesthesia, cancer chemotherapy and immunosuppression. The revision also includes updates to both the pharmacopoeia and the drug therapy section to reflect new developments in both available drugs and in their use.