Positive Health Online

Abstract

DE CATERINA and others, Institute of Cardiology, University Cardiology Division, and Center of Excellence on Aging, “G. d’Annunzio” University, Chieti, Italy, rdecater@unich.it, have reviewed (45 references) nutritional mechanisms that influence cardiovascular disease.

Abstract: Current evidence suggests that most significant risk factors for heart disease have been identified. Although age, gender, and genetics are important risk factors, most new cases of acute myocardial infarctions today can be predicted by the level of 9 risk (or cardioprotective) factors that can easily be assessed and, most importantly, modified. These risk factors are the same in almost every geographic region and in every racial/ethnic group worldwide and are consistent in men and women. 8 of these 9 risk factors are influenced by diet, and most act by promoting atherogenesis, which is the most important background condition for cardiovascular disease. Dietary interventions mostly affect atherogenesis by modulating, at the cellular level, proinflammatory processes that initiate and perpetuate endothelial dysfunction, plaque formation, and, eventually, plaque rupture. For example, there is now enough evidence, both epidemiological and clinical, of the beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids. Either as part of a normal low-fat diet or as supplements, these fatty acids are now recommended to prevent cardiovascular disease. This review summarizes the mechanisms by which diet may influence atherogenesis through the early inception, progression, and clinical emergence of atherosclerosis, with a special focus on n-3 fatty acids.

Background

Methodology

Results

Conclusion

References

De Caterina R, Zampolli A, Del Turco S. Madonna R, Massaro M. Nutritional mechanisms that influence cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 83 (2): 421S-426S, Feb 2006.