Day 034 - 11 Oct 94 - Page 36


     
     1        In the left-hand column under Application and Public
     2        Health Impact, Impact on Cancer Research, I would like to
     3        quote about two paragraphs:  "Increased research during
     4        the 1980s", which perhaps the dates are relevant, "refined
     5        and strengthened evidence of the connection between diet,
     6        nutrition and cancer.  In particular, researchers were
     7        able to (1) identify stronger links between dietary fat
     8        and colon cancer and post-menopausal breast cancer.
     9        (2) Refine the connection between dietary fat and increase
    10        cancer risk to focus on types of fat.  (3) Develop a
    11        scientific basis for the hypothesis that increased intake
    12        of insoluble fibre reduces colon cancer.
    13
    14        As knowledge of dietary impacts on cancer risk and
    15        prevention become known, the public demanded more
    16        information spawning further research studies and an
    17        influx of new researchers into what was once thought of as
    18        a 'soft science' field" -- soft science simply meaning
    19        that hard data were not clearly available.   "After
    20        epidemiological, animal and laboratory studies were able
    21        to confirm a connection between cancer, diet and
    22        nutrition, human primary cancer prevention intervention
    23        trials were initiated to examine specific effects of
    24        changes in diet and nutrition on cancer risk."
    25
    26        Then some more details of these studies are given.  The
    27        only things that I wanted to highlight there was that,
    28        according to this document, these changes occurred
    29        somewhere during the 1980s.  By "changes" I mean,
    30        according to this report, links were already established
    31        between fat and colon and breast cancer, but that these,
    32        in their words, links were made stronger during the
    33        1980s.
    34
    35        Secondly, near the end of my reading, they use the words
    36        "confirm a connection between cancer, diet and
    37        nutrition".  So, they are speaking about this not in very
    38        tentative or hypothetical terms, but to talk about this as
    39        something that is confirmed.
    40
    41        On page 19, I would simply like to call the court's
    42        attention to the very last sentence on page 19, which
    43        refers again to the effects of diet on hormone levels,
    44        which again has already been accepted as a very important
    45        factor in the cause of breast cancer.
    46
    47        The last sentence of this document on page 19 says:
    48        "Changes in dietary fat from an average of 40 to an
    49        average of 20 per cent calories from fat reduces both
    50        tissue and circulating oestrogen levels by about 17 per 
    51        cent" -- "tissue" meaning the oestrogen that is in organs, 
    52        "circulating" meaning the oestrogen that is in blood, 
    53        both of which are affected by a reduction in fat intake.
    54
    55        I draw attention to this because it suggests that, indeed,
    56        avoiding high fat foods of the type that is sold at
    57        McDonald's does, in fact, reduce oestrogen levels, does so
    58        significantly and in a way that is not simply hypothesis
    59        but is clearly established fact.
    60

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