With high morbidity and mortality rates, atherosclerosis (ATS) is a major concern worldwide. This book provides comprehensive information on ATS, including chapters on cardiovascular disease and obstructive sleep apnea, rheumatology and cardiovascular risk, and the differences of ATS among men and women. Let’s hope for the best and thank you to all my team for collaborating in this book production. In particular, thanks • to Bruno (my expert colleague) and Aurel (my secretary) for analyzing and reading with me all the texts • to Vincenzo, Stefano and Andrea for English evaluation • and finally to Rebecca (my future wife) for sustaining me in all professional activities giving me power in daily life!

New updated edition first published with Cambridge University Press. This new edition includes 29 chapters on topics as diverse as pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, vascular haemodynamics, haemostasis, thrombophilia and post-amputation pain syndromes.

Stroke is a major cause of death and the major cause of adult neurological disability in most of the world. Despite its importance on a population basis, research into the genetics of stroke has lagged behind that of many other disorders. However, the situation is now changing. An increasing number of single gene disorders causing stroke are being described, and there is growing evidence that polygenic factors are important in the risk of apparently "sporadic" stroke. Stroke Genetics provides an up-to-date review of the area, suitable for clinicians treating stroke patients, and both clinical and non-clinical researchers in the field of cerebrovascular disease. The full range of monogenic stroke disorders causing cerebrovascular disease, including ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, are covered. For each, clinical features, diagnosis, and genetics are described. Increasing evidence suggest that genetic factors are also important for the much more common multifactorial stroke; this evidence is reviewed along with the results of genetic studies in this area. Optimal and novel strategies for investigating multifactorial stroke, including the use of intermediate phenotypes such as intima-media thickness and MRI detected small vessel disease are reviewed. The book concludes by describing a practical approach to investigating patients with stroke for underlying genetic disorders. Also included is a list of useful websites.

In recent years, the understanding of the pathophysiological processes of atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the vessel wall being the leading cause for mortality in industrial countries, has tremendously increased. The feasibility of translating such knowledge to novel therapeutic approaches is currently being explored at various levels. This book highlights advances in atherosclerosis and links these to relevant therapeutic strategies. It compiles and details cutting-edge research in cardiovascular medicine from internationally renowned authors.

Owing to their unique state of preservation, mummies provide us with significant historical and scientific knowledge of humankind’s past. This handbook, written by prominent international experts in mummy studies, offers readers a comprehensive guide to new understandings of the field’s most recent trends and developments. It provides invaluable information on the health states and pathologies of historic populations and civilizations, as well as their socio-cultural and religious characteristics. Addressing the developments in mummy studies that have taken place over the past two decades – which have been neglected for as long a time – the authors excavate the ground-breaking research that has transformed scientific and cultural knowledge of our ancient predecessors. The handbook investigates the many new biotechnological tools that are routinely applied in mummy studies, ranging from morphological inspection and endoscopy to minimally invasive radiological techniques that are used to assess states of preservation. It also looks at the paleoparasitological and pathological approaches that have been employed to reconstruct the lifestyles and pathologic conditions of ancient populations, and considers the techniques that have been applied to enhance biomedical knowledge, such as craniofacial reconstruction, chemical analysis, stable isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis. This interdisciplinary handbook will appeal to academics in historical, anthropological, archaeological and biological sciences, and will serve as an indispensable companion to researchers and students interested in worldwide mummy studies.

A vast literature has been concerned with arteriosclerosis and yet, many aspects of pathogenesis and of the mechanism of development of the arteriosclerotic vascular lesion remain only poorly understood. In recent years, our knowledge of the earliest stages of arteriosclerosis have greatly improved. By now, we have learned to relate morphologic changes to disturbances in function. It has been of particular impor tance that components of the arterial wall could be analyzed in regard to dysfunction, for example, in the endothelium or the vascular smooth muscle. The interaction of the different morphological components of the vascular wall could thus be much bet ter understood. Likewise, the interaction between the arterial wall and the flowing blood could be much better described, including the intimate relationship between platelets and the endothelium, the coagulation system and the endothelium, the granulocytes and the endothelial cell layer, as well as processes of migration of blood cells into the subendothelial space. The recognition of functional and morphological disturbance has attained clinical significance not only because the arteriosclerotic diseases have quantitatively reached the dimensions of an epidemic, that is, of a magnitude never been witnessed. It is also because of the development of new drugs that interfere with the atherogenic process and thereby prevent the development of the disease or halt its progression. It is also becoming increasingly possible to inhibit the occurrence of complications in existing arteriosclerotic lesions in manifest disease, i. e.