Professor Keith Frayn chairs launch of new British Nutrition Foundation Task Force report on CVD

Green Templeton College Emeritus Fellow Professor Keith Frayn chaired the launch of the second edition of a report by the British Nutrition Foundation’s (BNF) Task Force on Cardiovascular Disease: Diet, Nutrition and Emerging Risk Factors.

Professor Frayn, who was Chair of the Task Force, oversaw proceedings at the launch event on Wednesday 27 February, attended by the Foundation’s Patron, HRH The Princess Royal.

Also present at the event was Green Templeton Senior Research Fellow Professor Leanne Hodson, another member of the Task Force.

The first edition of this report on the so-called ‘novel’ or ‘emerging’ risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the influence of diet was published in 2005. That Task Force was also chaired by Professor Frayn. The BNF more recently realised that the field had advanced significantly and asked Professor Frayn to convene a new international Task Force and to update the report.

The report is published by Wiley Blackwell and contains, in addition to reviews on the science behind each of the emerging risk factors considered and the effects of diet, sections on public health implications, and questions and answers for the press and for the public.

Professor Frayn opened the conference, which took place at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London, by describing the remit of the Task Force. “Conventional lifestyle-related risk factors for CVD include smoking, raised cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, raised blood pressure, lack of physical activity, obesity and diabetes,” he said. “However, these ‘classical’ risk factors cannot fully explain differences in CVD risk, and emerging evidence suggests that other novel risk factors may play an important role.”

The full Task Force report is available as electronic or hard copy here.