ENGLISH BOOKS

The Fifth International Congress of Croatian Respiratory Society took place in Dubrovnik, from October 7 to 10, 2010. The main theme of the Congress was " Pulmonary Manifestations of Systemic Disease". The international and national pulmonary and internal medicine specialists, radiologists, clinical cytologists, pathologists and biochemists, gave some interesting lectures. Most of the lectures were consequently put down in writing, and some more chapters were added, thus completing this intriguing subject. And this was the road to complete this book.

What does it take to be an editor of a small journal at the scientific periphery, in a Balkan country going through a war and post-communist socioeconomic transition? Matko Marušić, professor of physiology and immunology at the University of Split School of Medicine and a prolific writer of short novels, tells a story of how he fought against such a string of unfavorable adjectives for a scientific magazine to fulfill his dream of making a good international journal.

Pathophysiology is an integrative science which deals with etiology and mechanisms of disease. It is a study of human physiology of adaptative and altered functions in disease and disorders. Pathophysiology combines the theoretical and clinical knowledge. It provides a unifying framework of understanding of biophysical, biochemical, morphological (and other) aspects of disease processes and their relations to clinical signs, symptoms and dysfunctions.

Humor is difficult to define and to understand, particularly in a second language, but Dr. Charles Calisher took on the challenge to write a column for the Croatian Medical Journal, which resulted in the 20 texts reprinted here.

Studying pathophysiology is a challenging task both for students of medicine and physicians. General goal is an integration of theoretical visions and postulates, relevant scientific data and concepts with practical clinical aspects of the disease in a patient. It deals with fundamental pillars and landmarks of human body reactivity, pathways and spontaneous networking in various states of disease and disorders.