This book describes in detail the multidisciplinary management of obesity, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the rationale for a multidisciplinary approach and with the tools required to implement it effectively. The emphasis is on a translational approach, starting from basic concepts and fundamental mechanisms of the pathology and clinical morbidity. Experts in the field discuss the full range of relevant topics, including the significance of physical exercise, psychological issues, nutritional strategies, pharmacological options and bariatric surgery. Put another way, the book covers all aspects from the bench to the bedside. Physicians, scientists and postgraduate students will all find it to be invaluable in understanding the causes and optimal management of obesity, which has rapidly become a major public health problem.

Adipocytes are a major component of the bone marrow, accounting for up to 70% of total bone marrow volume in healthy humans. Indeed, this bone marrow adipose tissue (often referred to as ‘MAT’ or ‘BMAT’) accounts for at least 5% of total adipose tissue mass in lean, healthy humans, suggesting a role in normal physiology and development. Bone marrow adiposity further increases with ageing and in diverse clinical conditions, including major public health challenges such as osteoporosis. Yet despite this abundance and compelling clinical potential, bone marrow adipocytes have received surprisingly little attention from the biomedical research community. Thankfully, this is now beginning to change. Research over the past decade has begun to increase our knowledge of BMAT, including the conditions associated with altered bone marrow adiposity and the potential physiological and pathological functions of bone marrow adipocytes. The articles within this e-Book highlight many of these recent developments, underscoring our increasing knowledge of BMAT formation and function; showcasing emerging techniques for basic and clinical BMAT analysis; and highlighting key questions and future directions for this burgeoning and increasingly diverse field. The editors would like to express their thanks to the authors for contributing the articles within this e-Book; to the senior editors at Frontiers in Endocrinology for their guidance; and to the staff at Frontiers for their helpful input throughout.

During the past decade, a wide range of scientific disciplines have adopted the use of adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs) as an important tool for research and discovery. In Adipose-Derived Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols, experts from the field, including members of the esteemed International Federation of Adipose Therapeutics and Science (IFATS), provide defined and established protocols in order to further codify the utilization of these powerful and accessible cells. With chapters organized around approaches spanning the discovery, pre-clinical, and clinical processes, much of the emphasis is placed on human ASC, while additional techniques involving small and large animal species are included. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series, the detailed contributions include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Adipose-Derived Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols serves as a vital reference text for experienced researchers as well as new students on the path to further exploring the incredible potential of ASCs.

Included CD-ROM contains clinical notes, information on congenital anomalies, radiographic anatomy, and clinical problem-solving exercises, all of which correlate directly with the text.

Genomic and Precision Medicine: Primary Care, Third Edition is an invaluable resource on the state-of-the-art tools, technologies and policy issues that are required to fully realize personalized health care in the area of primary care. One of the major areas where genomic and personalized medicine is most active is the realm of the primary care practitioner. Risk, family history, personal genomics and pharmacogenomics are becoming increasingly important to the PCP and their patients, and this book discusses the implications as they relate to primary care practitioners. - Presents a comprehensive volume for primary care providers - Provides succinct commentary and key learning points that will assist providers with their local needs for the implementation of genomic and personalized medicine - Includes a current overview on major opportunities for genomic and personalized medicine in practice - Highlights case studies that illustrate the practical use of genomics in the management in patients

Recent scientific breakthroughs, celebrity patient advocates, and conflicting religious beliefs have come together to bring the state of stem cell researchâ€"specifically embryonic stem cell researchâ€"into the political crosshairs. President Bush's watershed policy statement allows federal funding for embryonic stem cell research but only on a limited number of stem cell lines. Millions of Americans could be affected by the continuing political debate among policymakers and the public. Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine provides a deeper exploration of the biological, ethical, and funding questions prompted by the therapeutic potential of undifferentiated human cells. In terms accessible to lay readers, the book summarizes what we know about adult and embryonic stem cells and discusses how to go about the transition from mouse studies to research that has therapeutic implications for people. Perhaps most important, Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine also provides an overview of the moral and ethical problems that arise from the use of embryonic stem cells. This timely book compares the impact of public and private research funding and discusses approaches to appropriate research oversight. Based on the insights of leading scientists, ethicists, and other authorities, the book offers authoritative recommendations regarding the use of existing stem cell lines versus new lines in research, the important role of the federal government in this field of research, and other fundamental issues.

This open access book focuses on imaging of the musculoskeletal diseases. Over the last few years, there have been considerable advances in this area, driven by clinical as well as technological developments. The authors are all internationally renowned experts in their field. They are also excellent teachers, and provide didactically outstanding chapters. The book is disease-oriented and covers all relevant imaging modalities, with particular emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging. Important aspects of pediatric imaging are also included. IDKD books are completely re-written every four years. As a result, they offer a comprehensive review of the state of the art in imaging. The book is clearly structured with learning objectives, abstracts, subheadings, tables and take-home points, supported by design elements to help readers easily navigate through the text. As an IDKD book, it is particularly valuable for general radiologists, radiology residents, and interventional radiologists who want to update their diagnostic knowledge, and for clinicians interested in imaging as it relates to their specialty.

Angiogenesis has recently played a critical role in regulation of adipose tissue expansion and regression. Like most other tissues in the body, adipose expansion and regression is accompanied by alteration of blood vessel density and structures. The vascular alteration plays an active role in regulation of adipose tissue size and functions. Targeting blood vessels in the adipose tissue have demonstrated to be a novel approach for possibly treatment of cancer, obesity and other metabolic diseases. This book provides the most updated information on this type research and discusses future opportunities for therapy..

This timely and most comprehensive reference available on the topic covers all the different aspects vital in the fight against the global obesity epidemic. Following a look at adipose tissue development and morphology, the authors go on to examine its metabolic and endocrine functions and its role in disease. The final section deals with comparative and evolutionary aspects of the tissue. The result is an essential resource for cell and molecular biologists, physiologists, biochemists, pharmacologists, and those working in the pharmaceutical industry.

The fascinating area of Nutrigenomics describes this daily communication between diet, food and nutrients, their metabolites and our genome. This book describes how nutrition shapes human evolution and demonstrates its consequences for our susceptibility to diseases, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis. Inappropriate diet can yield stress for our cells, tissues and organs and then it is often associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Overnutrition paired with physical inactivity leads to overweight and obesity and results in increased burden for a body that originally was adapted for a life in the savannas of East Africa. Therefore, this textbook does not discuss a theoretical topic in science, but it talks about real life, and our life-long “chat” with diet. We are all food consumers, thus each of us is concerned by the topic of this book and should be aware of its mechanisms. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview on the principles of nutrigenomics and their relation to health or disease. We are not aiming to compete with more comprehensive textbooks on molecular nutrition, evolutionary biology, genomics, gene regulation or metabolic diseases, but rather will focus on the essentials and will combine, in a compact form, elements from different disciplines. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule “a picture tells more than thousand words”. The content of this book is based on the lecture course “Nutrigenomics”, which is held since 2003 once per year by Prof. Carlberg at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into three sections and twelve chapters. Following the "Introduction" there are sections on the "Molecular genetic basis" and the "Links to disease", which take a view on nutrigenomics from the perspective of molecular mechanisms or from the causes of metabolic diseases, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Nutrigenomics will be a usefull reference for individuals working in biomedicine.