Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries,
but is quickly becoming an epidemic in such well-populated countries as
China, India, and other developing nations. Cardiovascular research is the key
to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of cardiovascular disease.
Vigorous and cross-disciplinary approaches are required for successful cardiovascular
research. As the boundries between different scientific disciplines,
particularly in the life sciences, are weakening and disappearing, a successful
investigator needs to be competent in many different areas, including genetics,
cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, and structural biology. The newly
developed field of molecular medicine is a cross-disciplinary science that seeks
to comprehend disease causes and mechanisms at the molecular level, and to
apply this basic research to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases
and disorders. This volume in the Methods in Molecular Medicine series, Cardiovascular
Disease, provides comprehensive coverage of both basic and the
most advanced approaches to the study and characterization of cardiovascular
disease. These methods will advance knowledge of the mechanisms, diagnoses,
and treatments of cardiovascular disease