Description Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases remain the number one cause of death in developed countries and their prevalence is increasing rapidly in developing nations. This book brings together the recent information on these disorders and the links that exist between them in order to provide a complete picture of drug discovery for these conditions. The main three sections comprehensively discuss obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in turn, following an introduction to the molecular links between them. The final chapter provides perspectives on future directions of the field. Chapters are contributed by leaders in the field from academia and industry and cover biomarkers, risk factors, gene-environment interactions, therapies and the various types of animal models that have been used to study each disease. Case studies describing the implementation of animal models in drug development further enhance the book's usefulness as a comprehensive guide to this important therapeutic area. Providing a full picture of the various types of animal models that have been used to study obesity, hypertension, and insulin resistance with recent case studies, this book provides a valuable resource for medicinal chemists and clinicians working in these disease areas.