Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 41


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just wait until the reference is put to you
     2        and then see what you make of that, Dr. Barnard.
     3
     4   MR. RAMPTON:  This is awfully difficult, I know, and you are in
     5        a confined space.  Do you still have a copy of the
     6        document that we made for you, it is the green bundle,
     7        page 64.  This section, Dr. Barnard, which starts on page
     8        59 is part of the chapter on Cancer and Immunity.  It
     9        deals with breast cancer.  On page 64, having proposed fat
    10        as the principal villain and fibre as being possibly
    11        protective, you go to other risk factors in small print on
    12        pages 64, 65, 66 and 67, do you not?
    13        A.  Yes, I do.
    14
    15   Q.   You mention hormones; you mention overweight or, if you
    16        like, obesity; you mention radiation; you mention
    17        genetics; toxic chemicals; time between puberty and first
    18        pregnancy.  Can we take it, Dr. Barnard, that we agree
    19        that the later the age of first pregnancy, at any rate on
    20        an epidemiological basis, the greater the risk of breast
    21        cancer in later life.  In other words, early pregnancy is
    22        thought to be better than late pregnancy -- I think that
    23        is really what you are telling us here in this section.
    24        A.  Yes.
    25
    26   Q.   By "late" I mean what you mean, the time interval between
    27        the onset of menarche and first pregnancy because, of
    28        course, "late" is a comparative term.  We notice from this
    29        section of your book that you do not mention the number of
    30        children, parity, which has a correlation
    31        epidemiologically with the incidence of breast cancer,
    32        does it not?
    33        A.  It may.  This is a book about how to eat food, not how
    34        many children people should have.  And, from my reading of
    35        the literature, what is certainly important
    36        epidemiologically has to do with the interval between
    37        puberty and first pregnancy.
    38
    39   Q.   But the number of children you decide to have has nothing
    40        do with your diet, has it?
    41        A.  Correct.
    42
    43   Q.   Nor has the height to which you may eventually aspire has
    44        or may have something to do with diet, yes?
    45        A.  It may.
    46
    47   Q.   It may.
    48        A.  It also has obviously a lots to do with intrinsic
    49        pituitary function.
    50 
    51   Q.   Yes, which in turn may be a function of heredity, may it 
    52        not? 
    53        A.  I cannot tell that those factors have really been
    54        elaborated.
    55
    56   Q.   But height is certainly recognised as a factor, a positive
    57        factor, in the risk of getting breast cancer?
    58        A.  Taller women do ------
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Did it actually come to that, or might it

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