Day 256 - 04 Jun 96 - Page 19

     
     1        amongst all the people in China, for example, who are
     2        highly disposed to getting liver cancer because of HPV (?)
     3        infection, those who consume even small amounts of
     4        animal-based material are the ones who are going to get the
     5        liver cancer.  So, it tends to explain the anomaly why, in
     6        China, so many of these kind of cancers are actually
     7        higher.  It just simply shows that they are particularly
     8        vulnerable.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  Maybe it is better if I just read those.
    11
    12        "Control of the prevalence of this disease" -- that is
    13        liver cancer -- "may be best achieved through immunisation
    14        of young children.  Prevention of disease progression among
    15        individuals who suffer chronic hepatitis infection may be
    16        best achieved through strict adherence to a low fat,
    17        plant-based diet.
    18
    19        "Consumption of salt preserved (pickled) vegetables
    20        increases stomach cancer while consumption of fresh
         vegetables decreases this cancer.
    22
    23        "Provided there is adequate dietary variety and quantity of
    24        plant-based foods and an otherwise good public health
    25        environment, achievement of adult height can be maximised
    26        without consuming animal-based foods.
    27
    28        "Breast cancer, low in China, nonetheless is greater with
    29        the consumption of the typical Western diet (high in
    30        animal-based foods and fat and low in plant-based foods)
    31        which encourages body growth rates to be too rapid, and
    32        sexual maturation to occur too early."
    33
    34        The sexual maturation occurring too early, what effect does
    35        that have on the incidence of breast cancer?
    36        A.  Well, there is a lot of studies now showing, of course,
    37        that earlier sexual maturation, particularly amongst young
    38        girls, is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer
    39        later in life; it is a very consistent finding.  So, the
    40        question is to why in some societies sexual maturation
         occurs earlier than in other societies; and what we are now
    42        learning is that it tends to occur early when young girls
    43        are pushed, with rich diets early in life, to grow as fast
    44        as they can -- which we of course tend to do in Western
    45        societies.
    46
    47   Q.   I will read out -- I will miss out the next section, and go
    48        on to "Implications of this study":
    49
    50        "Conclusions drawn from this and other studies suggest that 
    51        it should be possible to simultaneously reduce diseases 
    52        typically found either in Western industrialised countries 
    53        or in developing countries (of this, we have considerable
    54        confidence).
    55
    56        "If all countries were to use the dietary and lifestyle
    57        recommendations emerging from this study, it is estimated
    58        that the reduction of disease burden would result in an
    59        enormous saving in health care costs.  (At least
    60        $120 billion per year in the US alone might be saved)."