Summary :
Welcome to the eleventh edition of Willams Textbook of Endocrinology. Although Robert Williams inaugurated this book more than 50 years ago, the goals of the text have not changed. Williams stated his goal as “a condensed and authoritative discussion of the management of clinical endocrinopathies based upon the application of fundamental information obtained from chemical and physiological investigation.” Of course, today we would add “genetic and epidemiologic investigation, as well as the wealth of clinical trial data” as sources of information that aids clinical management. The immense and ongoing new information from multiple disciplines, in fact, makes a synthetic exercise like this textbook more relevant than ever to help guide endocrinologists in the care of their patients. To encourage the goal of synthesis, we continue to ask a small number of distinguished authors to work together to present entire areas of endocrine science. The mandate for concise presentations acknowledges both the time pressures on today's physicians and the desire to make the text affordable and easily navigated. This edition displays many important innovations. Three entirely new chapters focus on “Hormones and Athletic Performance,” “Neuroendocrine Control of Appetite and Body Weight,” and the “Endocrinology of HIV/AIDS.” The latter two chapters join the revised chapters on “Obesity,” “Disorders of Lipid Metabolism,” and “Gastrointestinal Hormones and Gut Endocrine Tumors” to form a new Section entitled “Body Fat and Lipid Metabolism.” All chapters have been extensively revised, and 12 new authors have joined the book's faculty. For the first time, full color figures are placed throughout the text to enable effective communication. A uniform style has been used to facilitate identification and use of clinical algorithms. We express our deep gratitude to the co-workers in our offices, Irma Sabbag, Lynn Moulton, Grace Labrado, Louise Ishibashi, and Sherri Turner, whose great and continuing efforts have made this work possible. We also thank our colleagues at Elsevier, Dolores Meloni and Anne Snyder, who navigated the ever-changing world of medical publishing without deviating from our goals, while keeping us on deadline

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