Environmental Cardiology: Pollution and Heart DiseaseBhatnagarAruni PhD390 pages. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011. $199.99. ISBN 978-1-84973-005-1

Aruni Bhatnagar PhD 390 pages. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011. $199.99. ISBN 978-1-84973-005-1In an underdeveloped country, don't drink the water; in a developed country, don't breathe the air. —Changing Times MagazineEconomic development clearly comes at a cost, and has huge implications for human health in ways that are both direct and indirect (for example, through climate change). Environment risk factors are taking center stage as we realize that our internal well-being is determined to a surprising degree by the external environment. The monograph titled Environmental Cardiology is a superb and timely compilation of 13 chapters that provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. The broad motivations are simple. The juxtaposition of traditional risk factors with all pervasive environmental toxicants occurring at an unprecedented scale may create a toxic melange that may help to explain the emerging pandemic of chronic cardiovascular disease.The cardiovascular system tends to be exquisitely sensitive to the environment, including the physical (eg, air, water, land pollution), social (eg, stress, socioeconomic status), and our own personal environments. For all too long, we have ignored these omnipresent and omniscient influences that, in many cases, may have outsized effects that rival traditional risk factors and very rightfully should be considered a separate discipline, as eloquently argued by Dr Bhatnagar. The first chapter is an elegantly written treatise on the environmental basis for cardiovascular disease and is the keystone to the monograph, because it provides the context for subsequent, more focused chapters. The relationship among socioeconomic factors, social interactions, time, seasons, latitudinal variations, physical activity, and the choices we make (eg, food, activity) is succinctly discussed. The clearest …