SEPTEMBER 1980 P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y 81 BOOK REVIEWS Physiotherapy in Disorders o f the Brain. Shepherd, R. and C arr, J. (1980). W illiam H einem ann, London. P rice: £10,95. T he authors o f this boo k achieve th e goals which are stated in th e preface. T hey are obviously experienced, widely read and trem endously interested in im proving understanding and handling of patients suffering from b rain disorders. T heir opinions a re freely expressed, well substantiated and inform ation is well docum ented throughout. Section I has four subsections which fo rm an in te­ g rated and com prehensive background to th e follow ing sections. I t is pleasant to see ageing treated as an im portant consideration, an d not ju st briefly m entioned as is so often th e case. A ssessm ent and re-learning m ovem ent em phasise the problem -oriented approach to -.treatm ent w hich considers all aspects of th e p a tie n t’s . ^ h a b ilita tio n program m e. T his ap proach is carried thro u g h to Section II, which deals w ith aspects of th e m ore com m only encountered disorders. Section III covers other com m on problem s of n eu ro ­ logical disorders an d extends the field covered in the previous section and substantiates it. A lthough th e T echniques of T reatm en t listed in A ppendix i are d ealt w ith very briefly, th ere is a good deal of inform ation w hich will help th e reader to discrim inate betw een and clarify concepts. T he m aterial in this book should aid th e th erap ist to a b etter integration o f p a tie n ts’ problem s w ith treatm en t procedures, and a m ore discrim inatory ap proach to choice of techniques. T he book m akes pleasant reading and should be a valuable com panion to physiotherapists at various levels of experience an d to senior students. H . P. M aree Cash’s Textbook o f Physiotherapy in Some Surgical Conditions. Ed.: D ownie, P atricia A. (1979). 6th E dition. F ab er & F ab er, L ondon. R epresented by M acM illan South A frica. Price: + R12,75. T he 6th edition has been enlarged and up d ated in all sections and includes th ree new chapters. O ne addition is a ch ap te r on “ U sing M edical L ib raries” and has sections on th e U niversal D ecim al Classification, in­ dexing periodicals an d th e In d ex M edicus. A second new addition to the boo k is th e chapter on Plastic Surgery and includes in fo rm atio n on grafts, han d su r­ gery, as well as cosm etic surgery. T he th ird new ch ap te r is on A dvanced R e h ab ilitatio n by th e w ell-known au th o rity on th e subject, S. H . M cL aren o f th e H e r­ m itage R ehabilitation C entre. A ll three new chapters are welcome additions. This book, as over the years, continues to keep up w ith m edicine to-day and should rem ain a m ain reference in P h y sio th erap y b o th for qualified and train in g physiotherapists. M . F arq u h arso n M ultiple Choice Questions in Anatomy & N eurobiology for Undergraduates. Blunt, M. J. an d G irgis, M. (1979). B utterw orth. L ondon. P rice R8,90, plus GST. O btainable fro m : B utterw orth & Co. (S.A. Pty) Ltd. P.O. Box 792, D u rb an , 4000. T his b o o k of m ultiple choice questions has been com ­ piled fro m a question b an k collected over m any years in the D ep artm en t o f A natom y at the U n iv ersity of Sydney. T he questions are grouped according to a n a ­ tom ical regions and include three m ultiple choice question types. As these questions w ere p rim a rily set fo r m edical students m any o f them are unnecessarily detailed fo r param edics an d a m ore functional em phasis w ould be preferable in m ost of the sections. H ow ever, it is well set out w ith som e questions th a t can be used exactly as they are w ritten. M ore im portant, it is useful fo r ide?s on setting new questions and often questions need only one or tw o distractors changed to suit the students answ ering them . T his could be a valuable b ook fo r exam iners in u niversities and colleges training students in professions allied to m edi­ cine. A s an additional aid to learning it is n o t suitable fo r the student. I. Sellars . ) ABSTRACTS/OPSOMMINGS D e D om enico, G . (1979) T onic vibratory reflex. What is it? Can we use it? Physiother. 65, 44 - 48. A u th o r s Sum m ary T h e T o n ic V ib ra to ry Reflex (T V R ) is a v a ria n t o f the classical m y o tatic reflex. Essentially, it is the co n trac­ tio n of a m uscle in response to a v ib ra to ry stim ulus o f low am plitude ( < 3 m m ) at a frequency o f ab o u t 100 Hz. T he diagnostic an d th erap eu tic p ossibilities o f the T V R a re being investigated by a n u m b er o f authors. In general, they all su p p o rt th e view th a t this reflex has a significant role to play in th e diagnosis and treatm ent o f the p atien t w ith a neurological disability. Atkinson, B. W. (1978) A new concept in traction tables: K altenbom three-dimensional treatment table. A ust, J. P hysiotherapy 24, 219 - 220. T his is the d escription o f a highly v ersatile tractio n table w hich was designed in N orw ay. I t is divided into three sections w hich can be m an ip u lated independently, and the lower, o r lu m b ar section can be ro tated aro u n d its long axis to give three-dim ensional tractio n . A p art from its use as a tractio n table, b y tip p in g the low er end it can also be used fo r postural drainage. I t w ould ap p ear to be a very useful and versatile piece o f eq u ip ­ m ent and o f p a rtic u la r interest to physiotherapists who use o rth o p a e d ic m anipulative techniques in th e ir tre a t­ m ent o f the spine. H . C. W atts Twomey, L. T. and Furniss, B . I. (1978) The life cycle o f the intervertebral discs and vertebral bodies. A review. A u s t J. P hysiotherapy 24, 209 - 218. A w ell-docum ented and detailed d escription o f th e de­ velopm ent and stru ctu re and ageing process o f the vertebrae an d th e ir discs. T h e au th o rs stress th e need fo r a th o ro u g h understanding o f the fundam ental arch i­ tecture of th e b ack b y those involved in th e treatm ent of b ack p ain syndrom es. T h e fact th at vertebrae and discs grow an d age together as one fundam ental u n it is em phasised. “I t follow s th a t physical th erap y procedures should not be selective just to th e disc, b u t should in ­ volve th e to tal fu n ctio n al u n it . . . we need to be aw are of the fact th a t o u r techniques have a considerable effect upo n bon y structures as we are o f the effects R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )