The Angiogenesis Foundation and U2’s The Edge Advocate for More Research into How Foods Can Prevent and Fight Disease
The Angiogenesis Foundation and U2’s The Edge Advocate for More Research into How Foods Can Prevent and Fight Disease
The Angiogenesis Foundation’s President and Medical Director Dr. William Li and U2 guitarist The Edge met with top officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss the pressing need for expanded research into how foods can help prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Food is a powerful, but largely untapped resource for disease prevention. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 80 percent of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes are preventable, as is 40 percent of all cancer. Yet most of our nation’s efforts and resources are allocated toward disease treatment, while little attention is paid toward preventing chronic diseases in the first place.
Dr. Li and The Edge, who both serve on the board of directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation, are calling for more national efforts toward scientific and medical research into how foods can prevent disease by influencing the body’s natural defense systems, including angiogenesis.
Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, were among those Dr. Li and The Edge met with during their visit.
“It’s now possible to use the tools of biotechnology to illuminate food’s ability to prevent and modify disease by activating the body’s natural defense systems,” said Dr. Li. “More scientific studies are greatly needed as well as cross-sector collaboration to fully understand the capabilities of foods and beverages when it comes to disease prevention. The Angiogenesis Foundation is leading efforts to bring together leaders across scientific fields to better understand how foods can prevent and conquer chronic diseases.”
A strong body of scientific evidence already exists showing diet impacts public health. But a concerted commitment on the part of policymakers, health officials, industry, and the scientific and medical community is needed to fully understand the role diet can play in chronic disease prevention.
The Angiogenesis Foundation is leading research using modern tools of biomedicine to examine how diet can support health and prevent a wide range of diseases in both developed and developing nations. The Foundation’s overarching goal is to see governments, scientists, doctors, communities, and individuals make the same worldwide commitment to disease prevention as has been made to curing disease once it’s detected.