Advances in Metabolic Disorders, Volume 7 covers the developments in the study of metabolic disorders. The book discusses the role of growth hormone on the stimulation of somatomedin in the tissues; the secretion of natriuretic hormones by extracellular volume expansion; and the methodological aspects on the estimation of genetic effects of environmental agents in man. The text also describes the metabolic aspects of desert adaptation by man and the synthesis and secretion of insulin in dynamic perfusion systems. The general morphological and functional aspects of islet cells as well as the mechanisms involved in the release of insulin from the beta cell are also considered. The book further tackles the mechanisms of insulin action; diabetes mellitus as a disease of pancreatic and extrapancreatic origin; and the pathogenesis of pancreatic islet cell hyperplasia and insulin insensitivity in obesity. The text concludes by looking into the clinical correlation of obesity and diabetes mellitus. The book will prove invaluable to endocrinologists, biochemists, physicians, and medical students.