Human Drug Metabolism, An Introduction, Second Edition provides an accessible introduction to the subject and will be particularly invaluable to those who already have some understanding of the life sciences. Completely revised and updated throughout, the new edition focuses only on essential chemical detail and includes patient case histories to illustrate the clinical consequences of changes in drug metabolism and its impact on patient welfare. After underlining the relationship between efficacy, toxicity and drug concentration, the book then considers how metabolizing systems operate and how they impact upon drug concentration, both under drug pressure and during inhibition. Factors affecting drug metabolism, such as genetic polymorphisms, age and diet are discussed and how metabolism can lead to toxicity is explained. The book concludes with the role of drug metabolism in the commercial development of therapeutic agents as well as the pharmacology of some illicit drugs. Human Drug Metabolism: An Introduction, Second Edition is a completely revised and updated version of this key text. Providing an invaluable introduction to this core area of pharmacology and covering recent progress and advances in this fast moving field. The book focuses on giving the reader a conceptual understanding of the drug metabolism system, illustrating basic mechanisms of how xenobiotics are detected, chemically modified and then eliminated from human systems. * A concise, accessible and engaging introduction to drug metabolism * Avoids unnecessary technical and chemical detail * Focuses on a conceptual understanding of the drug metabolism system * Provides a wealth of examples to engage student interest and explore the clinical consequence of drug metabolism in simple terms Reviews of first edition: "The author has certainly achieved his goal of providing an accessible introduction to human drug metabolism" The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, June 2006 "Armed with the knowledge contained in this book, we should all be well on the way" Pharmaceutical Physician, May 2006 "...a useful introductory text for the intended audience of students studying pharmacology and toxicology..." Veterinary Pathology, November 2006