Hypertension Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hypertension, including details on symptoms, diagnosis, diet, treatment, causes.

Nutrition and cardiovascular disease.

Getz GS, Reardon CA

The University of Chicago, Department of Pathology MC 1089, 5841 S Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. getz@bsd.uchicago.edu

The major cardiovascular diseases affecting the developed world have at their core atherosclerosis and hypertension, both of which are profoundly affected by diet and can be approached, at least in part, from a nutritional point of view, as can the increasing "epidemic" of obesity. Diet is a multi-component mixture of many nutrients, which may interact with one another. The definitive study of nutrients and their impact on cardiovascular disease can be a daunting enterprise. Many dietary risk factors contribute to these diseases in various environmental and ethnic settings. These risk factors are often in evidence in youth so that preventive measures must be initiated early in life. Although most of the information about nutritional risk factors and cardiovascular disease derives from studies in the developed world, the situation is rapidly evolving toward epidemic proportions in the developing world where a major burden on the economy and health services will be imposed.

Published 21 November 2007 in Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 27(12): 2499-506.
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