Foreword

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the major threat to health throughout the Westernized World. Although tremendous advances have been made during recent decades in the prevention and treatment of CVD, still CVD, including heart disease (coronary heart disease/CHD, hypertension/HTN, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation/AF) and stroke combine to cause more morbidity and mortality than cancer and any other diseases. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of CVD remains a major emphasis to clinicians, scientists, and the lay public.

Professor Dr. ATTA-UR-RAHMAN and Prof. Dr. IQBAL CHOUDHARY have contributed substantially during recent decades on many important topics related with health and CVD, particularly in the fields of natural products and bio-organic chemistry. In this new book, Volume 2 Frontiers in Cardiovascular Drug Discovery, they, along with the authors and co-authors of the chapters, provide substantial new and innovative information for the potential of natural substances (Traditional Chinese medicine, herbs, dietary nutitional substances, vitamins, tea, omega-3 fatty acids or fish oils, garlic, coenzyme Q 10, etc.) to protect against and to treat CVD, including the potential to prevent and treat atherosclerosis and CHD, the true # 1 killer in the Westernized World. There are also very detailed and comprehensive discussions of the vitamin K antagonists and the new alternatives to this therapy to prevent thromboembolic events, especially stroke, in non-valvular AF, which has been increasing in epidemic proportions in much of modern society. There is also a very interesting discussion of sympathetic nerve modulation as a potential alternative to pharmacological treatment that could become applicable to the treatment of millions of patients with HTN.

This book adds admirably to the large collection of work that these authors have provided, and this book should be of substantial interest to the clinical and scientific readership, particularly those interested in natural and innovative efforts for the prevention and treatment of CVD. I highly recommend reading this very interesting piece of work!