It hardly seems that three years have passed since the publication of the first edition of Allergic Diseases: Diagnosis and Treatment. We are gratified that it was enough of a success to warrant the second edition. As with the first, this edition is intended for the "front-line" physician who cares for the allergic patient. We have tried, once again, to make it as "user friendly" and clinically oriented as possible. Our approach to the principles of pathophysiology is intended to allow them to be easily applied to the rationale for therapy. The major intent therefore is still to help the primary care physician deal with the day-to-day management of the allergic patient. The arrangement of this text is similar to that of the first edition, with the major emphasis being on common allergic diseases and the pharmacologic tools we use to control them. To this end two new chapters have been added, one on antihistamines and the other on antileukotrienes. In addition, a new chapter has been added to help the physician deal with the child who experiences recurrent respiratory tract infections. Many of the authors, because of the superb job they did with their first contributions, have been asked for an encore. However, to keep our approach fresh, some of these authors have been asked to write different chapters, and new contributors have been solicited.
