INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL NEUROLOGY.: 2nd edition. By Douglas J. Gelb. 2000. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Price pound22.50. Pp. 416. ISBN 0-7506-7202-1.

Abstract

Neurology has long been perceived by medical students as being a difficult subject. As many neurologists enjoy teaching, it is unsurprising that quite a number have written short text books to help introduce students to neurology. Initially there were only a few such titles, e.g. an earlier Introduction to Clinical Neurology by Gordon Holmes, first published in 1946, or Neurology Simplified by David Lafia from 1960. However, there is now a profusion of such books aimed at the neurologically naive, many with titles including catchy phrases such as \`essential. . . ', \`lecture notes in. . . ', \`key topics', \`colour illustrated', or `made easy' to encourage the beginner. Indeed, I must declare a conflict of interest as an author of some such books. In common with many of these introductory books, Dr Gelb's stated objective is to provide a systematic approach to neurological problems encountered in general medical practice, avoiding the esoteric and focusing on practically important distinctions. In addition, they aim `to inspire the readers to seek out patients with neurological problems and approach them not only with confidence, but with enthusiasm'. The book is divided into four sections: \`The basic approach', \`Common diseases', \`Common symptoms' and finally \`Bookends' which deals with paediatric and geriatric neurology. \`The basic approach' introduces the idea of the localization of a neurological lesion as a game. The rules indicate that synthesis of symptoms and signs should aim to produce a unique localization, or series of possible localizations or demonstration of multiple lesions. This is followed by what is referred to as the \`long version' of the game, working through the pathways involved in two examples in some detail. These are accompanied by line drawings of the pathways involved. The examples are …