Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 06

     
     1        the protective aspects of the diet.
     2
     3        1.2 The effectiveness of prevention:
     4        In Finland in the 1950's, mortality from heart disease was
     5        the highest in the Western countries.  The Finnish
     6        Government was persuaded by public concern to establish a
     7        test centre in North Karelia where preventative action
     8        would be taken based on reducing the saturated fat intake,
     9        increasing the polyunsaturated fat intake, reducing blood
    10        pressure and smoking.
    11
    12        The success of the North Karelia programme persuaded the
    13        Government to go nationwide.  From data on the quantitative
    14        risk attached to the correlations with heart disease
    15        mortality and saturated fats and blood lipids, blood
    16        pressure and lifestyle factors, they have been able to
    17        predict the rate of fall in mortality as a consequence of
    18        the programme.
    19
    20        They have now published data to show that the fall in
         mortality is actually matching the predicted line.  This is
    22        strong evidence for the causative nature of diet, blood
    23        lipids, blood pressure and lifestyle in heart disease.
    24        Since the inception of the national programme mortality has
    25        fallen by about 30% nationwide in Finland.  Scotland has
    26        replaced Finland as the mortality leader in Western
    27        countries.
    28
    29        1.3.  1st International Conference on Fat and Oil
    30        Consumption in Health and Disease, Washington 1995:
    31        The proceedings of this meeting will be published in the
    32        American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, later this year.
    33        The new evidence widens our understanding of the dietary
    34        causes of heart disease.  The work on cancer still lags
    35        behind that of heart disease but the experimental evidence
    36        is similarly implicating fats.  I stand by my previous
    37        statement which offered an explanation for the coincidence
    38        of heart disease and cancer in the same populations.
    39        Namely that cancer and heart disease have the common
    40        principle of adhesion to the walls of the circulatory
         systems which in the one case causes thrombosis and in the
    42        other the spread of cancer.  Adhesion is known to be
    43        enhanced by saturated fats.
    44
    45        Experimental evidence was discussed at the conference,
    46        showing that omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect
    47        against metastasis of experimental breast cancer.  They
    48        also protect against coronary thrombosis.  (Previous work
    49        published:  K.L. Fritsche & P.V. Johnston (1990) Effect of
    50        dietary anti-Linolenic acid on growth, metastasis, fatty
    51        acid profile and prostaglandin production of two murine
    52        mammary adenocarcinomas. Journal of Nutrition 120: pages
    53        1601-1609).  This data essentially supports my hypothesis
    54        of a common denominator.
    55
    56        That is, the basic argument of the pamphlet that McDonald's
    57        served foods of the type that could have contributed to
    58        heart disease and cancer, remains true."
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Could I just ask you what you are saying