This book provides up-to-date knowledge on the role of water and fat soluble vitamins in the prevention of human diseases. The vitamins are essential food constituents with magnificent biological effects therefore, linking our biology to our lifestyle and environment. One-sided nutrition, smoking, alcohol, genetic factors, and even geographical origin interfere with our dietary intake of the vitamins. Therefore, it is not wondering that insufficient vitamin intake can impact our health and contribute significantly to the development of numerous diseases. The book offers expert reviews and judgements on the role of vitamins in our health and the link between vitamins deficiency and disease conditions at different life stages. Having knowledge about the association of vitamins and disease, as well as keeping track on the patients vitamin status has become increasingly important to physicians, clinical chemists, epidemiologists, specialists in nutrition, health professionals, researchers, and students who are interested in this area. Recent development in laboratory methods has helped making many issues in this field quantitative.

Wolfgang Herrmann and Rima Obeid, Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Medical School, Saarland University, Homburg / Saar, Germany.