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BOOK REVIEW |
Departments of Nutrition and Environmental Toxicology
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
E-mail: poteiza{at}ucdavis.edu
The influence of lifestyle on human health is of worldwide increasing concern. Thus, this book appears as timely and scientifically sound. As pointed out in the preface, "The recognition of the occurrence of risk factors and their identification is an important step in overcoming lifestyle-related diseases and building a healthy lifestyle."
From this perspective, it is accepted that nongenetic factors account for >80% of the attributable risks of mortality. Furthermore, it has been estimated that >70% of the major causes of mortality are avoidable through changes in lifestyle (1). The pathologies that are triggered or potentiated by lifestyle are many and include cancer, heart disease, obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and neurodegenerative disorders. Taking into consideration that these diseases affect a large and increasing proportion of the population, this book addresses a topic of major health relevance for nutrition and health. In addition, it focuses on the importance of potential preventive or therapeutic actions of lifestyle. Nutrition and antioxidant compounds, both as dietary components and as therapeutic strategies, are thoroughly discussed and provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the antioxidant compounds that are currently considered to have potential beneficial health effects. Finally, because this book focuses on the role of free radicals in lifestyle-related diseases, it stresses the knowledge acquired through current research of oxidation and antioxidation pathways in physiology.
The chapters of the book are written by a group of international and highly recognized scientists. The book is thematically divided into 3 sections. The first section includes articles addressing the involvement of free radicals in diseases that can be triggered or modulated by lifestyle, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. This section also discusses how changes in lifestyle (smoking, diet, antioxidants) can prevent or ameliorate these pathologies.
The second section particularly focuses on the role of free radicals in physiologic (aging) and pathologic (Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, kainic acid–induced toxicity) conditions that affect the nervous system. Most of the articles in this section present current evidence on the beneficial health effects of dietary components and antioxidant supplements (herbs, coenzyme Q10, polyphenols) and, finally, of traditional Chinese medicine.
The chapters in the last section address basic mechanisms underlying the deleterious effects of oxidants and the protective effects of antioxidants in lifestyle-related diseases, from a nutritional and pharmacologic prospective. Several of the major antioxidant substances are discussed in this section.
In conclusion, the objective of the editors of this book to provide state-of-the-art and comprehensive information about the molecular mechanisms involved in lifestyle and disease was largely achieved.
REFERENCE
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