Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 06
1 A. Well, if anything, I would have said that there is more
2 of a trend now than suggesting that there is not a trend.
3
4 Q. You are talking about consistent trends?
5 A. I would have said, yes. Certainly what you say is
6 correct in a sense in that the trend has been to say that
7 one does not know, but I think that on the whole, the more
8 recent trend has been to suggest that if you look
9 objectively in the way that the studies have been
10 organised, that these studies have been unable to relate
11 diet to cancer, certainly as far as breast and bowel cancer
12 is concerned.
13
14 Q. So, do you read all the scientific literature on this
15 subject or just read selectively the ones that suit your
16 view?
17 A. No. I think any scientist tries to read a broad
18 spectrum of articles to try to get a balanced view about
19 what is exactly going on. I would not able to live with
20 myself if I only looked at one set piece of evidence to
21 support a prejudiced view.
22
23 I have an open mind on this topic, which I hope I have
24 tried to put across to the court, and I have tried to look
25 dispassionately at the evidence which has been available to
26 me as a scientist, because I do not have to just stand here
27 in court today; I have actually got to deal with patients.
28 I am a practising doctor looking after patients with cancer
29 all the time. A frequent question that I am faced with
30 from patients is: "What do I do about my diet? What
31 modifications can I make? So I try to read the evidence
32 that is published to give patients a reasonable judgment
33 about what they may do to improve their chances of having
34 successful treatment, and obviously being cured of their
35 disease.
36
37 Q. What advice is that in relation to diet?
38 A. Well, I say that, I try to be honest with them, that,
39 at the moment, the evidence is not known. I say that the
40 thing which appears to come across most strongly is that a
41 good intake of fruit and vegetables is important and that
42 the other factor which seems to be important is that they
43 should try to take some exercise.
44
45 I say that question marks regarding fat in the diet have
46 been raised, and certainly we do know that people who are
47 obese do seem to have a worse outlook following the
48 treatment of their cancers than people who are thin. One
49 of the easiest ways to become obese is to eat too much fat,
50 because of the relative amount of calories that fat
51 contains relative to the size of the meal you take. So
52 I say that it is only reasonable, if you are trying to
53 avoid becoming obese, to try to cut down on your fat
54 intake.
55
56 You remember, these are people who are not nutritionists or
57 specialists in the field but one has to try and give advice
58 which is easily followed for patients.
59
60 Q. Right.
