This title was first published in 2001. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) supplies all innervated structures of the body other than skeletal muscle, and its effects are therefore pervasive. The range of available ANS-active compounds can effectively modulate any or all body systems. The ANS-active agents include drugs used to treat a wide spectrum of conditions including hypertension, myocardial insufficiency, migraine, nasal congestion, obesity, Parkinson's disease, and glaucoma. Drugs from an array of therapeutic categories, including vasodilators, muscle relaxants, gastroprokinetics, and bronchodilators, can be classified as ANS agents.

This Handbook contains records for all the major drugs that mimic or block the actions of ANS neurotransmitters or whose activities involve a direct effect on ANS neurotransmitter production, destruction or reuptake, or on junctional transmission. Monographs are provided for 1,996 ANS agents.