Metabolic and functional impairments in skeletal muscle frequently occur. These range from the symptoms of pain and fatigue to pathological disorders that may result in muscle wasting. However, many of these symptoms and features of skeletal muscle disease occur in diverse conditions, each with different aetiologies, methods of diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive text that brings the complex facets of skeletal muscle pathology, diagnosis and management together in a single coherent volume. All the contributing authors are of national or international standing and leading experts in their field with each chapter being a concise and detailed account of the current 'state-of-the-art'. Where relevant, the text is accompanied by diagrams, photomicrographs and tables with appropriate citations. The aim of the book is to enhance our understanding and treatment of skeletal muscle disorders.

Part I. Pathology: 1. Skeletal muscle fatigue 2. Review of skeletal muscle injuries 3. Inflammatory myopathies 4. Crush injury 5. Muscle injury in athletics 6. Cancer cachexia 7. Effect of hypoxia on skeletal muscle 8. Biochemical aspects of ageing of skeletal muscle 9. Steroid misuse in athletes: effects on skeletal muscle 10. Skeletal muscle changes in heart disease 11. Skeletal muscle in kidney disease 12. The effect of non-insulin dependent diabetes on skeletal muscle 13. The effect of magnesium and potassium deficiencies on skeletal muscle 14. Mitochondrial myopathies 15. Myopathies involving glycogen and carbohydrate metabolism 16. Metabolic myopathies: an overview 17. Alcoholic myopathy 18. Skeletal muscle in HIV/AIDS: effects of disease process and therapy-induced changes 19. Myasthenia gravis 20. Effects of scleroderma on skeletal muscle 21. Ion channel disorders 22. Inclusion body myositis 23. Desmin-related disorders 24. AMP deaminase deficiency 25. Capillary no flow 26. Mechanism of skeletal muscle pain 27. Cytokines and skeletal muscle 28. Skeletal muscle infections 29. Skeletal Muscle in Liver Disease 30. Free radical mediated injury Part II. Diagnostic techniques: 32. Histochemical staining techniques for examination of skeletal muscle 32. Immunohistochemical methods for examining skeletal muscle 33. Methods for examination of antibodies in skeletal muscle disease 34. Electromicroscopic methods for examination of skeletal muscle 35. Intraneural nerve recordings 36. Skeletal muscle biopsy techniques: practice and procedures 37. Electromyography 38. Magnetic resonance imaging 39. Measuring skeletal muscle mass 40. Assessment of muscle function by isometric test 41. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry 42. Diagnostic electron microscopy 43. Tomography as a diagnostic tool for skeletal muscle injury and pathology 44. Biochemical markers of skeletal muscle disease 45. Impedance measurements 46. Assessing muscle pain / Section 3: Management of muscle disorders 47. Strategies for increasing optimal function of skeletal muscle in the aged 48. Nutritional therapies for improving muscle function and recovery in pathologies: an overview 49. Endocrine therapies for reducing skeletal muscle wasting: theory and practice 50. Dynamic myoplasty 51. Therapeutic effects of exercise in heart disorders 52. Management of muscle pathology in the critically ill 53. Immunomodulation in muscle disease 54. Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis 55. Pharmacological preconditioning 56. Management of skeletal muscle after stroke 57. Skeletal muscle relaxants 58. Gene transfer in skeletal muscle.