Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 53
1 discussed earlier. And at the end of that sentence where
2 he points out that dietary fat -- "the differences in
3 dietary fat intake may provide a meaningful key to
4 prevention of cancer", a causal relationship is strongly
5 implied there without which prevention would not be a
6 possibility.
7
8 Q. But in terms of some "inconsistencies", he does not say
9 "many inconsistencies" or "a great deal of
10 inconsistencies".
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is this a matter upon which Dr. Barnard can
13 really help?
14
15 MR. MORRIS: I do not know.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have put a circle around the particular
18 words, the particular words, you have stressed.
19
20 MR. MORRIS: Maybe it helps to look straight to the last
21 sentence of that paragraph which was read out before:
22 "But the weights of the studies to date are strongly
23 suggestive of the role for dietary fat in the aetiology of
24 some types of cancer"; aetiology is about ---
25 A. The origins.
26
27 Q. -- causation?
28 A. Yes, the origins or the study of the cause.
29 Presumably, when he says "some types" he is referring to
30 his earlier statements, breast and colon, particularly
31 perhaps prostate as well. Yes, my interpretation of this
32 paragraph is that by 1988 the Surgeon General of the
33 United States was convinced that there was very
34 substantial evidence of a role for dietary fat in the
35 aetiology of the types of cancer that he has mentioned.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: When he is making that comment, he is
38 clearly considering the evidence from all sources, is he
39 not?
40 A. From many sources -- perhaps not all. As thick as
41 this book -----
42
43 Q. All kinds of sources; obviously he may not have considered
44 every single paper which has been written on the topic.
45 But is he not considering them from all sources,
46 epidemiological he has mentioned, animal studies he has
47 mentioned?
48 A. He seems particularly emphasising those. There is
49 perhaps less emphasis, although still some, on mechanisms,
50 and I am not aware of any attention that he has paid to
51 dietary factors in cancer survival, at least as relates to
52 this paragraph, but that would be an independent line of
53 research.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: He does say, though, on the fifth line, "For
56 example" and then he says, "epidemiologic and animal
57 evidence", so presumably he has looked at other areas as
58 well?
59 A. Yes, one would presume so.
60
