PHYS THER
Vol. 86, No. 2, February 2006, pp. 305-306
Review of Books, Computer Software, and Videotapes |
Kingston B. Cheltenham, UK GL53 7TH, Nelson Thornes Ltd, 2005, paperback, 217 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-7487-9440-9, $23.40.
Understanding Muscles: A Practical Guide to Muscle Function, ed 2
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Introduction
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The title of this book accurately describes its purpose and scope. This is a concise, clear, and practical overview of most of the skeletal muscles in the human body. It is organized in an interactive format that should greatly help the reader learn the name, attachments, and functions of the different muscles. This book would be useful to most students learning gross anatomy for the first time, or for those clinicians looking for a quick overview of muscle anatomy. Specifically, this book would be appropriate for first-year students in physical therapy, osteopathy, athletic training, occupational therapy, nursing, medicine, and chiropractic. Although this book does not replace the need for a comprehensive anatomy atlas, it could serve as a useful supplementary textbook or reference.
The book begins with a short chapter of practical recommendations for the effective use of the book, followed by short chapters on anatomical/movement terminology and muscle and joint organization. The remaining chapters are organized by region, with each chapter covering the various joints of that region, and those muscles that cross each joint. Thus, there are chapters on the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, hip and pelvis, knee, ankle, foot, the respiratory (and abdominal) muscles, the muscles of the vertebral column, and the temporomandibular joint. There is a glossary and an index for the reader's reference.
However, the book does not cover the muscles of the urogenital region, the pharynx and larynx, the tongue, the extraocular eye muscles, some of the hyoid muscles, or the muscles of facial expression. The omission of these muscles, therefore, could limit the usefulness of the book for those students and clinicians with an interest in women's health, swallowing problems, or speech disorders.
The information presented in this book is accurate and logically organized. The writing and the illustrations are crisp and effective, and the book's emphasis is on interactive learning. Each muscle is accompanied by a "Study Task" box that directs the reader to perform several activities corresponding to the lesson, such as drawing a muscle, palpating a structure, performing a specific muscle test, highlighting key terms, or answering relevant questions. These various interactive features are the strength of this book and are what sets it apart from other anatomy learning aids, such as coloring books and flash cards. The author has refined these teaching methods over time, and the practical, effective nature of his approach is apparent. This most recent edition differs from the first edition by the inclusion of several dozen clinical correlate scenarios spread throughout the chapters, which are meant to stimulate interest in the clinical relevance of the different structures.
Anthony E Kincaid
Creighton University
Omaha, Neb
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Footnotes
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Dr Kincaid is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and teaches cell biology, neuroscience, and anatomy to physical therapist students, graduate students, and medical students. He has an active research laboratory that is studying the pathogenesis of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
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Copyright © 2006 by the American Physical Therapy Association.
