Atherosclerosis, Hypertension and Diabetes

Thistext, as the tide states, is acompilationofpapersdevoted to the studyofath- erosclerosis,hypertensionanddiabetes.Thesethree distinctdisease entities,although not entirely unrelated, are three ofthe most important disease conditions in the world today.As such, this volumeofresearch papers isofobvious medical impor- tance.Thejustificationofthe energy,time and financial resources directed towards the studyofeachofthese three diseases requiressome discussion. The majority of papers amongst the three diseases that are discussed in this volume are dedicated to the studyofatherosclerosis.This is not by accident.Car- diovasculardisease isthenumberonekillertodayintheworld. IntheUnitedStates almost61 millionAmericanshaveoneormoreformsofcardiovasculardisease.These diseases claimed nearly 1million lives in 1998 alone.Although approximately 80% ofthosewho dieofcardiovasculardisease are 65 yearsofageorolder,asignificant numberofpeople are killed by cardiovascular disease below the ageof65.Ather- osclerotic heart disease in the eoronary vaseulature eausedapproximately~ million deaths in the United States in 1998.At least 12,400,000people are alive todayin the United States with a historyofmyocardial infarctions or ehest pain or both.Clearly,atherosclerotie disease inthe heart isamajormedicalproblem.This disease affeetsbothmenandwomen.Althoughmen are more likelyto experienee aheart attaekand are atgreater risk for eardiovaseular disease,more then ~ofthe people alive today with a historyofheart attacks or angina are females. As weIl,women whodo havemyoeardialinfarctionsare twice aslikely to diefromtheeventwithin afew weeks.Atheroscleroticvasculardisease isnotlimitedtojustthe heart.Anath- erosclerotic ischemic event is the primary causeofstroke today.Although it isnot weIl appreciated, stroke is the number 3 killer inAmerica today and the leading causeofdebilitatingneurological damage.Atherosclerotic vascular disease therefore, has acostintermsofhuman life,qualityoflifeandfinancialburden today thatno otherdisease canmatch.Theseriousnessofthis medicalproblemdemands research attention.