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
