Chronic Infection, Chlamydia and Coronary Heart Disease [antikvár]

Foreword This is an original and timely book, which reviews the role of chronic infection (in particular, Chlamydia pneumoniae) in the genesis of coronary heart disease (CHD). To a generation raised on the powerful epidemiological and trial evidence linking CHD to conventional risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, diet and lipids, and blood pressure, it may seem strange to contemplate antibiotics as a future cure. However, one only has to look at the field of gastroenterology to see how a novel hypothesis that Helicobacter pylori infection causes peptic ulceration led rapidly to major changes in treatment. The book highlights a growing body of information which demonstrates that coronary and other arterial lesions contain C. pneumoniae (and other) microorganisms. The question as to whether these microorganisms are merely passengers, carried in by the phagocytes associated with plaques, or whedier they are actually responsible for the inflammatory lesion, is under intense study. We also need to know whether or not these chronic infections are merely markers for social conditions, such as poverty or deprivation. The authors - Sandeep Gupta and John Camm - are two leading investigators in this growing area of cardiovascular research. In this book, they synthesise the current position on 'Chronic infection. Chlamydia and CHD', and provide - for both newcomers to the field and those already within it - an opportunity to examine the main evidence to date and to ponder on areas of future research. Of course, many texts will follow with progression and developments of the 'infection hypothesis', but there is clearly a place for a concise, clearly-written and current review. The book provides this.