[Cardiovascular Research on Elements and Systems]

Medical research including cardiovascular research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying physiology and pathophysiology. Many diseases, however, develop as a result of very complicated interactions among cells/molecules, and, therefore, no factor can be singled out as the dominant mechanism. This is even more clearly the case with chronic diseases, whose underlying mechanisms may be chronic inflammation, and insights into system links such as intercellular or inter-organ ones are, therefore, indispensable to understand the diseases. Here, I introduce heterocellular and organ-organ interplays which have critical roles in the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. It is also noteworthy that a large amount of medical information is processed in daily medical practice. Additionally, numerous clinical trials, physician-led clinical research, and epidemiological studies are conducted using the Internet. Moreover, in basic research, analytical technologies to assess the functions of the genome, molecules, and cells have advanced progressively, and a large amount of information is generated in a short period of time. Large-volume information and networking are important issues among medical organizations in community medicine. In the medical practice of cardiology, covering both acute treatment and chronic disorders, it is also necessary to reconsider the flow of medical information. In particular, for future clinical practice and studies in cardiology, we need to acknowledge the risk that accompanies building up knowledge based on this large-volume information and take measures against this risk.