Table Of Content

Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine 21st Edition Sir Stanley Davidson (1894–1981) This fam ous textbook w as the brainchild of one of the great Professors of M edicine of the 20th century. Stanley D avidson w as born in Sri Lanka and began his m edical undergraduate training at Trinity College, Cam bridge; this w as interrupted by W orld W ar I and later resum ed in Edinburgh. H e w as seriously w ounded in battle, and the carnage and shocking w aste of young life that he encountered at that tim e had a profound effect on his subsequent attitudes and values. In 1930 Stanley D avidson w as appointed Professor of M edicine at the U niversity of A berdeen, one of the first full-tim e Chairs of M edicine any- w here and the first in Scotland. In 1938 he took up the Chair of M edicine at Edinburgh and w as to rem ain in this post until retirem ent in 1959. H e w as a renow ned educator and a particularly gifted teacher at the bedside, w here he taught that everything had to be questioned and explained. H e him self gave m ost of the system atic lectures in M edicine, w hich w ere m ade available as typew ritten notes that em phasised the essentials and far surpassed any textbook available at the tim e. Principles and Practice of M edicine w as conceived in the late 1940s w ith its origins in those lecture notes. The first edition, published in 1952, w as a m as- terpiece of clarity and uniform ity of style. It w as of m odest size and price, but sufficiently com prehensive and up to date to provide students w ith the m ain elem ents of sound m edical practice. A lthough the form at and presenta- tion have seen m any changes in 20 subsequent editions, Sir Stanley’s original vision and objectives rem ain. M ore than half a century after its first publication, his book continues to inform and educate students, doctors and health professionals all over the w orld. Portrait reproduced by courtesy of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh For Elsevier Com m issioning Editor: Laurence H unter Editorial Project M anager: W endy Lee Project M anager: N ancy A rnott/Glenys N orquay D esigner: Stew art Larking Illustration M anager: Bruce H ogarth M edical Illustrator: Robert Britton Charts: H ard Lines A gency Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine The Editors Nicki R. Colledge BSc FRCP(Ed) Consultant Geriatrician, Liberton H ospital, Edinburgh, and Royal Infirm ary of Edinburgh; H onorary Senior Lecturer in Geriatric M edicine, U niversity of Edinburgh Brian R. Walker BSc MD FRCP(Ed) Professor of Endocrinology, U niversity of Edinburgh; H onorary Consultant Physician, Royal Infirm ary of Edinburgh Stuart H. Ralston MD FRCP FMedSci FRSE A RC Professor of Rheum atology, U niversity of Edinburgh; H onorary Consultant Rheum atologist, W estern G eneral H ospital, Edinburgh Illustrated by Robert Britton Edinburgh London N ew York O xford Philadelphia St Louis Sydney Toronto 2010 21st Edition A n im print of Elsevier Lim ited © 2010, Elsevier Lim ited. A ll rights reserved. N o part of this publication m ay be reproduced or transm itted in any form or by any m eans, electronic or m echanical, including photocopying, recording, or any inform ation storage and retrieval system , w ithout perm ission in w riting from the publisher. Perm issions m ay be sought directly from Elsevier’s Rights D epartm ent: phone: (+1) 215 239 3804 (U S) or (+44) 1865 843830 (U K); fax: (+44) 1865 853333; e-m ail: healthperm