Allergy [antikvár]

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION In less than three years since its pubhcation, the first edition of this volume has been exhausted. During this time, Portuguese and Spanish translations have appeared. We are indeed grateful for the manifest support and confidence of our colleagues and friends. For many years, my collaborator, Dr. Philip M. Gottlieb, has helped in the preparation of this book and worked with me on numerous original papers. For that reason I have now adopted him as a permanent literary associate. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the incidence of allergic diseases has attained an all-time peak. There are many instances in which the entire family, parents and children alike, suffer from some form of bronchial, nasal, gastro-intestinal, cutaneous, or cerebral hypersensitiveness, and very few in which at least one member is not afflicted. This state of affairs is truly alarming and calls for concerted action on the part of the medical profession. Now with the return of peace, a determined effort should be made by both National Allergy Societies to carry out and support basic scientific work designed to elucidate the fundamental causes of the hypersensitive state in man and animals. Special research institutes should be estabhshed in which biologists, chemists, physicists, im-munologists, clinicians, and veterinarians may investigate the obscure causes which have made allergic diseases increase to such an extent that there is a very real danger that in the not too distant future every one of us will be allergic. On the other hand, few branches of medicine have made such progress in the last three years as has allergy. This is best demonstrated by the immense hterature which has appeared in that time, making it necessary to insert in the second edition nearly 1,300 new references and to increase the reading matter by more than 10 per cent. Twenty-one new illustrations have been added. In order to avoid bulkiness a double-column format was chosen. Moreover, small print was employed for technics, botanical discussions, case histories, and the like. A few hundred older references were omitted. The following new sections were added: psychosomatic aspects of allergy, Rh factor, allergic bronchitis, allergic cough, and eosinophilic erythredema. The following sections were materially enlarged: drug allergy, with particular attention to sulfonamides, penicillin, and thiouracil; endogenous allergy; toxic and allergic contact dermatitis; treatment of migraine; sensitivity to human plasma; the pathogenesis of lupus erythematosus, periarteritis nodosa, and rheumatic fever; the allergy of infectious diseases; the various test methods; the diagnosis and complications of asthma; and cellular passive transfer by means of the Urbach-Koenigstein method. No portion of the book has escaped revision. Finally, through the courtesy of Dr. M. B. Sulzberger, a complete list of the concentrations used in patch testing was appended. Again we have not hesitated to give our opinions, interpretations, and ideas, particularly regarding treatment. However, as in the previous edition, an attempt has been made to present controversial subjects in an impartial manner. Expenses incidental to the preparation of this book were defrayed in part by a grant from the Allergy Research Foundation, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. The book is a genuine tribute to the generosity of the publisher, Mr. Henry M. Straton. Philadelphia Erich Urbach April 1946