[Nutrition and disease]

An essentially new concept of the effect of nutrition on the development and evolution of diseases has been advanced. At its root there lies the theory of metabolic current as a main path for maintaining the homeokinesis. In the aspect of this concept the pathogenesis of malnutrition diseases is considered as affections due to imbalanced alimentation at the cellular level. Changes in the biochemical status of the organism occurring under stressor effects and the part played by the nutrition factor in adaptive reactions of the organism in response to the stressor effects are analyzed. Investigations concerning the role of nutrition in the genesis of adiposity and atherosclerosis are summarized. The paper offers a summary of the material contained in numerous research works of the author and his collaborators, as well as information published in the world literature that leave no doubt as to the effectiveness of enzymological approaches and, in particular, the validity of the metabolis current concept, all this being essential for understanding the significance of alimentary factors in preventing and treatment of many diseases.