Positive Health Online

This is a very user–friendly text which is aimed specifically at students and teachers of massage therapy. Its main objective is to simplify the learning and teaching of anatomy and physiology by focussing on the more essential details of the subject matter. In the preface to the book the author expresses her view that massage practitioners are often frustrated with having to weed out irrelevant details from large heavy text books designed for the medical profession. Whilst the matter of deciding what is essential could well be debated the author does a wonderful job in presenting the fundamentals of anatomy and physiology with a clear and easy to follow layout. The first division gives an overview of each of the body systems. The anatomy is simply presented with line drawings and the physiology is very thorough and easy to read. There is also a brief discussion on the application of massage at end of each section. Particular emphasis is given to the integumentary, skeletal, muscular and nervous systems which are immediately relevant to the massage therapist. Assisted learning is provided by key points and objectives at the beginning of each section plus review questions at the end. An introduction to pathology is given in a later chapter. This covers the topics of pain, inflammation, healing and neoplasia. Pathological conditions are mentioned throughout the book and reference is frequently made to Pathology A to Z – a Handbook for Massage Therapists by the same author (also reviewed with this book). In the case history chapter the author presents examples of scenarios which the massage therapist may encounter. The reader is invited, by way of questions, to test his or her knowledge of common pathological conditions and to review their approach to the treatment. All in all the book is informative as well as stimulating and could well serve as a textbook or a useful guide to the subject of anatomy and physiology.