Cardiovascular Disease: Diet, Nutrition and Emerging Risk Factors

edited by Sara Stanner, 2005, 380 pages, softcover, $59.99. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Department of Medicine
University of California, Davis
UCD Medical Center, CRISP
2921 Stockton Boulevard, Suite 1400
Sacramento, CA 95817
E-mail: lars.berglund{at}ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Cardiovascular Disease: Diet, Nutrition and Emerging Risk Factors represents a unique opportunity for the interested reader to access up-to-date information on key aspects of nutrition as it relates to cardiovascular disease. The book summarizes a report from a British Nutrition Foundation Task Force, chaired by Keith Frayn, and each chapter was authored by experts in the respective areas. The outline of the report is very reader-friendly, the design is consistent and thoughtful, and the chapters are uniformly of very high quality. At the beginning of each section, the reader is quickly provided with a well-written, up-to-date review of the current state of knowledge. In addition, each chapter concludes with concise summaries of key points and recommendations for future research. The bibliography is comprehensive and represents a valuable resource for the reader.

The introductory chapter gives a useful overview of cardiovascular disease on the global scene and includes a summary of established and novel risk factors. This chapter is followed by a series of chapters focused on specific risk factors and disease mechanisms including lipids, metabolic syndrome, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, the hemostatic system, inflammation, homocysteine, and adipose tissue–derived factors. These chapters are uniformly of high quality and provide the reader with helpful and insightful summaries.

The next section focuses on nutrition and exercise and includes ambitious summaries—entitled "Where are we now? "—on the contentious areas of diet and physical activity. The chapter on diet is particularly extensive and contains useful tables summarizing evidence on nutrition-related factors from randomized trials or other sources. Overall, the text is balanced, and the reader can quickly have an overview of the currently available data. This section is followed by a chapter devoted to a discussion of the public health approach to cardiovascular risk reduction. Whereas the focus by necessity is on the United Kingdom, many of the action items discussed have universal applications. The book ends with chapter-by-chapter conclusions and recommendations of the task force, including recommendations for future research and recommendations to stakeholders such as policy makers, health professionals, industry, and media. The final chapter is a collection of questions to be expected from media and answers to each question, as recommended by the task force.

Overall, the book is highly informative, well written, and a pleasure to read. It can be recommended to any reader interested in a comprehensive and timely overview of diet-related factors and heart disease.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author had no conflict of interest with respect to the book or to the authors or editor of the book.