Day 034 - 11 Oct 94 - Page 51


     
     1
     2   Q.   I am sorry, what was that conference?
     3        A.  I would be glad to provide you with the reference.
     4        There was a recent conference of a number of experts
     5        looking, particularly, into cardiovascular disease and
     6        methods for its reversal.  The conference included eminent
     7        experts on reversal of heart disease.
     8
     9   Q.   Do you know where it was, the conference?
    10        A.  I do not have the reference with me right now, but
    11        I would be glad to get it.   I just notice that they have
    12        arrived at the same conclusion here.  This is something
    13        that is commonly talked about.  I was at a research
    14        meeting with Peter Greenwald of the National Cancer
    15        Institute and Walter Willett and the statement came out
    16        again that the optimal amount of cholesterol and, often
    17        people will say, optimal amount of animal fat in the diet
    18        is zero.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  From a health point of view?
    21        A.  Yes, only from a health point of view in that context.
    22
    23   MR. MORRIS:  Just the first chunk of next paragraph, the first
    24        phrase:  "The report is explicit in its insistence on the
    25        need for a population-wide, as opposed to individualised,
    26        approach to the prevention of diet-related chronic
    27        diseases, arguing that the entire population of most
    28        affluent countries shows a high risk profile", and then it
    29        goes on.
    30        Do you agree with that approach, that disease prevention
    31        is more a population-wide matter?
    32        A.  Oh, that is absolutely essential because, speaking
    33        first just of the United States, half of Americans die of
    34        cardiovascular disease.  Only for a tiny fraction could
    35        that be called strictly hereditary; for the vast majority
    36        specific and potentially controllable risk factors are
    37        responsible.
    38
    39        With regard to cancer, one in three Americans is going to
    40        develop cancer, or already has.  Again only for a tiny
    41        percentage of cases can hereditary be seen to provide the
    42        primary explanation; for the vast and overwhelming
    43        majority of cases, environmental factors, of which diet
    44        and tobacco are principal ones, although there are others,
    45        for the vast majority of cases heredity is not a decisive
    46        factor and we do not know -- well, there is just no
    47        question about it, that nutrient guidelines and
    48        encouragement to modify the diet in a healthier direction
    49        must be population-wide.  So I would certainly agree with
    50        this report. 
    51 
    52   Q.   The last paragraph:  "The report notes that the new 
    53        nutritional objectives of preventing both the deficiency
    54        diseases and the chronic diseases will have immense
    55        implications for the economics of farming, for government,
    56        industrial and social policies, and for international
    57        trade, and can thus be expected to meet with considerable
    58        opposition".  Is there, in your experience, opposition to
    59        healthy dietary changes?
    60        A.  Regularly and ferociously.  When the American

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