‘Biochemistry’, as a faculty of knowledge, tries to explain the ‘mystery of life’ in the language of chemistry. Biochemistry, as applied in medical field, emphasizes on understanding of the molecular basis of health and the pathophysiology of the disease(s), its/their diagnosis and offers means of rational therapeutic approach. In spite of biochemistry being the very essence of modern medicine, somehow ‘the subject’ failed to attract the liking of the student fraternity. Often viewed with a sense of ‘awesome fear’, if not dislike; though appreciated for its central role in modern medicine, biochemistry mistakenly thought to be as difficult subject to score in the examination. Needless to say that students want to pass the exam with good scoring provided the subject makes them interesting! To inculcate interest in this exciting field of knowledge among the students of medicine we need to make it palatable and easy to assimilate to score in the examination. To address the needs of the exam going students it is necessary to understand the requirement of students the way they perceive the exam. This aspect of student's requirement can be best appreciated by the student(s). In this context, it is very appropriate, Mr. Seetharamaiah Chittiprol an enthusiastic student of biochemistry, fresh after postgraduation in medical biochemistry, has come out with this novel handy book meant for exam going students. The very title of the book ‘Biochemistry: Instant Notes for Medical Students’ makes it very clear about its intention to underscore the nature of the book which is evident by inclusion of the most often asked questions and appropriate answers. With added mnemonics to make it easy to recollect while answering the questions is an attractive feature of this book. The book has 24 chapters with questions and answers, tables, attractive flow charts, viva questions, illustrative pictures and case reports cover the entire syllabus of medical biochemistry. This book, unlike other Textbooks on Biochemistry for medical/dental/pharmacy/nursing students, probably the first of its kind meant for exam going students comes as a much awaited gift to student's fraternity. I believe that while this book apart from serving as a handy one to revise before going for exam and interviews could as well stimulate the reader to go for exhaustive study of the subject for better understanding the basics. I am very confident that this book would be of immense use for all those who appear for exam and/or interview and will be appreciated by teachers to make this vibrant subject of biochemistry more palatable by students._8

Mr. Seetharamaiah, the author of this book, is currently engaged in doctoral studies in National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Apart from securing distinction and recipient of Gold Medal in M.Sc (Medical Biochemistry) from KMC Manipal, he has already received several academic honours (Regional Service Award in the 9th APCCB, New Delhi:2002; IBRO Research Fellowship, Chongqing, China:2004 and International Society for Neurochemistry Young Investigator's Travel Award-Innsbruck, Austria:2005). I wish Mr. Seetharamaiah all the best in his pursuit of excellence in science and look forward to see him scaling greater heights of academics in coming years.

With tremendous pressure of the present examination systems and a variety of subjects to study, the students will be looking for a book like this which is neither too exhaustive for comprehensive study, nor too small to be a single guide. It will serve as an effective additional aid not only for medical but also for dental, allied health, nursing and pharmacy students to score better in their examinations. The oral questions, mnemonics, tables and attractive flow charts will help the learners easy assimilation and effective recall of information. The case reports and illustrative pictures will help easy understanding of biochemical basis of the disease process and basic concepts in metabolism.

Being a top ranking, distinction student himself, Mr. Seetharamaiah Chittiprol has clearly understood the needs of the students and has come out with a book which will be very useful to the student community. “To learn from books, alone is like swimming an uncharted sea, but to learn without a book is not going to the sea at all” said Sir William Osler. Mr. Seetharamaiah's book will definitely help the students to learn this rather difficult subject with ease.

I wish this beautifully produced book all success and hope the Biochemistry Community will warmly welcome this effort. I also pray that Mr. Seetharamaiah Chittiprol will continue to make significant contributions to the academic world in the future to come.

The most common problems faced by the students during examinations are ‘time management’ and ‘presentation’. Several books are available in the market. All of them differ in their approach and treatment of the subject. But surprisingly none of them addresses the need of the hour, that is, “presentation during the examination”. I sincerely believe that a student can achieve best results with good time management during the preparation for the examination and systematic presentation of the answers. I hope this book will serve both these purposes.

This book is written keeping in view all categories of students and it addresses their needs in a simple and practical manner. The chapters are presented in ‘question and answer’ pattern so that candidate can present them in a concise way during the examinations. The Mnemonics, flow charts and illustrative diagrams will help the students to remember and present them in a way the examiner would like to see. The viva-voce questions are written on the basis of personal experience of the author and feedback of several medical students. The case reports are presented in a practical question, diagnosis and result approach. This will help the students to quickly review the real time incidents and diagnose them.

I am sure this book will guide the medical, dental and paramedical graduate students preparing for the theory examination as well as viva-voce examination with optimum use of their time and abilities.

I expect to bring out a new edition every three years. Suggestions to improve the contents from the students as well as teachers are most welcome and will be highly appreciated.

It gives me great pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor Prof. K. Taranath Shetty, who has stirred curiosity in me and steered me at every step inspiring my confidence and for his kind cooperation in the successful accomplishment of this work. I thank Dr. P. Satishchandra and Dr. D.K. Subbakrishna for their constant support and encouragement.

No words can explain my gratitude to Dr. K. Sudhakar Prabhu, Dr. S. Sudhakar Nayak, Dr. Anjalirao, Dr. Saraswathi L. Udupa, Dr. P. Gopalakrishna Bhat, Dr. B. Shivaraj, Dr. K. Gopalakrishna, Dr. Ullaskamat, Dr. Madhukarmallya and my other teachers at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal for their encouragement, and ingenious advice that enabled me to complete this work

I am highly indebted to the Board of Management, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and Kamineni Institute of Dental Sciences (KIDS), Narketpally, Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh for providing me the support and facilities during the initial stages of this work.

It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the help and constant encouragement from Dr. A. S. Kanagasabapathy, Dr. Pragnarao and Dr. Pawan Kumar Dhar for completion of this work. Mr. L. Prakasam Reddy and Dr. Vijay Kalia deserves a special mention in this regard.

My fervid and profound gratitude to Ms Suneetha Nune, Ms Preethi, Dr. Roopa, Dr. Ravi Kishore, Venkataraman (final year MBBS student), Mr. Suresh Babu S.V. and Sanjeeva Reddy P.L. for their valuable suggestions and helping me in editing this book.

I owe special thanks to Dr. C. G. Wilson and Dr. Anitha Devanath for taking pains and spending time in helping me in the preparation of the case reports.

My special thanks to Mr. Jayakar Reddy and Mrs. Sailaja for the computer assistance, and Mr. Chaitanya, artist, for the illustrations at Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences.

My hearty thanks to my friends Mr. Srikumar, Mr. Mallikarjun, Mr. Venkataswamy, Mr. Ranganatha Sastry, Mr. Vijaya Bhaskar, Mr. Bharath, Mr. Ramakrishna, Mr. Fareed Babu, Mr. Devaraju, Mr. Siddarth Roy, Dr. B.S. Rao, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Ms. Seetha, Ms. Prashanthi, Ms. Mahalakshmi, Ms. Suchithra, Ms. Sabitha, and Dr. Shruthy Mohanthy who constantly encouraged me in completion of this work._14

It is always a pleasant experience to work with Shri Jitendar P Vij, Chairman and Managing Director of M/s Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd., Mr. Tarun Duneja, General Manager (Publishing), Mr. R. N. Mandal, Regional Manager, Mr. Venu, Assistant Branch Manager and Mr. Manjunath Hedge, Author Coordinator for the sustained efforts in publishing this book.

My sincere acknowledgements to U. Seetharamacharya, Dr. D. M. Vasudevan, Dr. T. N. Pattabhiraman, Dr. U. Sathyanarayana, Dr. M. V. R. Reddy, Dr. A. R. Aroor, Dr. Venkatesh Thuppil, Dr. D. Sivaprasad, and Dr. D. N. Rao, the dynamic dignitaries in the field of biochemistry who inspired me in undertaking this small venture.

Words cannot express my gratitude to my sisters and brothers-in-law for their constant support and encouragement.

Finally my sincere acknowledgements to all of them who directly or indirectly helped me in completion of this work.