Diseases of Medical Progress is a book with multiple functions. First, it can serve as a guide to contraindications to the use of a drug or cautions to be observed when prescribing a given drug. For example, the relatively safe drug, griseofulvin (Fulvicin, Grifulvin) may hardly be the drug of choice in a fungal infection if the patient is suspected of having systemic lupus erythematosus, because griseofulvin has been suspected of precipitating it.
Second, it can serve as a guide in toxicology. Third, it can be of diagnostic help in clearing up the occurrence of an unrelated condition in a patient, by pointing to a side effect of a drug administered for a different purpose. For example, one can be at a loss to explain sudden and appreciable hair loss in a patient who may be euthyroid, has no topical lesions, or has not been exposed to radiation. But due