Nutraceuticals: The Potential Agents to Rescue Human Race from Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs)

Cardiovascular disease(CVD) is the foremost global health problem that accounts for the highest rate of morbidity, mortality and huge healthcare costs. Food habits and lifestyles predominantly affect the functioning of the cardiovascular system either directly or indirectly through risk factors like hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, etc. Decreased physical activity, increased sedentariness, and growing fast food culture are some of the apparent reasons that make the disease impact more on the younger generation. Several plant species have been reported in ethnomedicine for their therapeutic efficacies against CVDs and other diseases. Even though some preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of dietary plant components in the prevention and treatment of CVDs, they are limited to selected study groups. Therefore, their scope and utility need to be broadened and applied to larger populations to reduce the public health burden of CVDs. Since nutraceutical approach is more preferable than other therapeutic methods, there is a growing interest in functional foods and diet based remedies. In the present chapter, we have presented the current scenario of CVDs, their pathophysiology, the therapeutic drugs available, the role of nutraceuticals in treating CVDs and their mode of action with a special emphasis on commonly used kitchen spices.

Keywords: CVDs, Dyslipidemia, Hypertension, Nutraceuticals, Phytoconstituents, Spices.