This text stands alone as it provides the first authoritative review on the role of nutrition as it pertains to the IGF system. By taking a multidisciplinary approach, the importance of nutrition and the IGF system in the pathology and treatment of conditions such as diabetes, renal failure, inflammatory bowel diseases, critical illness, wasting disease, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer are explored. Even for health professionals not directly involved in IGF research, the text contributes greatly to the understanding of the mechanisms of growth arrest and metabolic...

A benchmark review on how specific nutrients or adverse nutritional states impact the components of the IGF (Insulin-like Growth Factor) system and affect human health and disease. The authors describe the fundamentals of the IGF system, explain its basic mechanisms of action, illuminate its essential role in physical development across the life span, and highlight the link between normal and abnormal cellular growth resulting in tumor formation. They also fully examine the clinical aspects of nutrition and IGF, from pre- and postnatal development through old age, in the maintenance of normal...