Insights from Veterinary Medicine
by Rita Payan-Carreira
February 2013
Under the title “Insights from Veterinary Medicine”, this book presents original research results and reviews flashing several distinctive aspects of the Veterinary Medicine Sciences, in which the knowledge has continuously increased over the past decades. Veterinary and Human Medicine have been developed in close association, in part as a reflection of the intertwined relationship found between animals and humans since the establishment of first civilizations. Humans and animals share common mechanisms of disease, thus serving as spontaneous models for the study of particular disorders, such as tumors and cardiac diseases. Furthermore, concerns on the deleterious side-effects of contaminants, in particular over the endocrine axis regulating different body functions and fertility, are on the table, as animals may serve as sentinels for environmental quality. In addition, the quality of the animal life with regards to both health and welfare also contribute to the quality of human life, and food-animal health and safety are safeguards against the disruption of the food chain. The Veterinary Medicine field has broadened its scope of action, and nowadays it encompasses much more than the veterinary medical practice. Similarly, a wide field of knowledge was covered in this book. Even so, it was our goal to provide you with current advanced resources in different veterinary science disciplines.
