Research and clinical findings on the controlled carbohydrate diet approach put forth by Robert C. Atkins, M.D., world-renowned and controversial authority on diet and nutrition, are discussed in a special issue of Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders (Volume 1, Number 3), a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The issue is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/met.

Evidence that a controlled carbohydrate diet may have positive effects on body weight, body mass, lipid levels, insulin levels and insulin resistance has important implications for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a term used to describe a combination of the following conditions: elevated blood pressure, serum glucose levels, and triglycerides, increased waist circumference, and low HDL cholesterol levels. Affecting more than 47 million Americans, metabolic syndrome increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Atkins (1930-2003) is best remembered for championing the reduced carbohydrate weight-loss program that has come to be known as the Atkins diet. Although his work on controlled carbohydrate diets remained controversial for decades, in recent years it has garnered a great deal of interest and attention in the scientific and medical community. A growing body of research, including two recent studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine that compared a controlled carbohydrate diet to more conventional weight loss strategies, has begun to support some of the underlying tenets of Dr. Atkins' dietary and nutritional theories.

"I am certain Dr. Atkins would have agreed that controversy is healthy, especially if it generates thoughtful questions and debate, as well as rigorous basic and clinical research," says Eric S. Freedland, M.D., Associate Editor of the Journal. "Consistent with our mission, it is only fitting that the Journal includes a forum for reporting the science and clinical experience regarding nutritional approaches for preventing and treating metabolic syndrome and related disorders."

Original papers included in this special issue focus on low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets; a proposal for a national, low-glycemic load diet; the thermodynamics and metabolic advantage of weight loss diets; and the results of a prospective study evaluating the effect of a low-carbohydrate, unlimited calorie diet on the treatment of childhood obesity.

Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, edited by Paresh Dandona, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, and Director of the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online, which provides an interdisciplinary forum to explore the pathophysiology, recognition, and treatment of the evolving entity known as metabolic syndrome. A complete table of contents and free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/met.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics and Obesity Management (launching in 2004). Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals and books is available at Carbohydrate Diet Approach