Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, is a disease afflicting almost 1 billion people world-wide. Some 70 million adults in the United States are affected by hypertension. The condition also affects about two million teens and children. It is called the "silent killer" due to the deleterious damaging effects, such as stroke, myocardial infarction, renal dysfunction, visual problems, among others, derived from hypertension. It is noteworthy that one-third of patients in this condition are not even aware they are hypertensive, as this disease is usually asymptomatic for many years, even decades, until it finally damages certain critical organs and the only reliable way to detect its occurrence is to regularly check blood pressure. Therefore, considerable effort has been devoted to ascertain the causes of hypertension, as well as the mechanisms damaging the organ function. Nevertheless, about 95% of cases have unknown causes and represent the primary or essential hypertension. This book presents an update of research advances contributing to a better understanding of relevant clinical models of hypertension, particularly; the involvement of the role of oxidative stress in various forms of hypertension as a still emerging subject. This paradigm could be applied to account for blood pressure elevation in the metabolic syndrome, renovascular disease, preeclampsia and chronic kidney disease, among others. These examples are discussed in the light of recent clinical and experimental studies providing a rational base for diagnosis and treatment of the diseases. Each chapter includes a synthesis of the mechanistic approach supported by the accumulated evidence to facilitate its comprehension.

Recent clinical studies reported that in critically ill patients, oxidative stress caused by an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and reduced antioxidant response is an expectable event. This book presents the actual scientific available evidence of the pathophysiology of oxidative stress and the role of it in different clinical situations in the critically ill patient, supporting an adjunct therapy to prevent the evolution to a multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. This point of view is supported by many recent clinical and experimental studies.

This book provides evidence of vitamin C supplementation in the treatment and prevention of important human diseases, such as pre-eclampsia, hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, among others. In addition, although this antioxidant vitamin is well tolerated, related studies are included which detail its side effects, such as kidney stones formation, diarrhoea and indigestion. The underlying mechanisms accounting for these undesirable effects remain to be determined, whereas the prevailing viewpoints consider vitamin C as a safety supplement.

This book provides accurate information about the scientific rationale for an increase of attention of clinicians towards the mechanisms involved in hypertension, a pathology in which it is difficult to reach optimal efficacy with the currently used treatments. The book will appeal to medical students, basic science students and biomedical researchers, as well non-medical professionals interested in this field.