Day 034 - 11 Oct 94 - Page 33
1 from the file we already have. Is it possible to do that
2 one first?
3 A. It would make it a more logical progression to talk
4 about the one I have listed next on my list.
5
6 Q. We have just got No. 76 here. Shall we deal with No. 76?
7 A. That will be fine, thank you.
8
9 Q. Can I ask, are we going until ten past or something?
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Five or ten past one.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: That is No. 76. If it is not clearly marked, it
14 should be. Would you like to identify the important
15 sections?
16 A. Yes. I will try to be very brief with this one as
17 well. Forgive me, I hope I am not taking too long with
18 these studies. This is the study by de Ridder which
19 appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in
20 1991, which is a leading nutrition journal in the United
21 States.
22
23 To simply provide a sentence or two about background, this
24 was a study in which 63 school girls were followed for a
25 three year period in Holland, I believe. Their diets were
26 assessed and the age at which menarche occurs, which again
27 is a known risk factor for breast cancer, earlier menarche
28 is a known risk factor for breast cancer, the link between
29 diet and the age of menarche was assessed. I would like
30 to read the abstract and a little bit of the
31 introduction. In the abstract it states:
32
33 "The relationships between dietary components and
34 physical or hormonal sexual maturation in 63 pubertal
35 girls were examined. The effects of vegetable protein and
36 dietary fibre on breast development" -- I will skip over
37 the statistics for a moment but would be glad to come back
38 to them if there is a question -- "The effects of
39 vegetable protein and dietary fibre on breast development
40 ... and menarche ... became more pronounced in a
41 multivariate analysis, after elimination of the linear
42 effects of body height and energy intake. From the
43 multivariate analysis with combinations of vegetable
44 protein, polysaccharides, and fibre in the equation" --
45 here is the part that is perhaps worth paying particular
46 attention to -- "fibre appeared to be the most important
47 factor. The gonadotropin and estradiol plasma
48 concentrations" -- simply to explain what that is,
49 gonadotropins are two hormones that encourage the ovaries
50 to manufacture hormones; oestradiol is manufactured in the
51 ovaries: "The gonadotropin and estradiol plasma
52 concentrations were higher in girls who consumed less
53 grain fibre. We conclude that a diet rich in vegetable
54 products, especially fibre, may affect the rate of
55 physical and hormonal sexual maturation, possibly mediated
56 by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad system."
57
58 The hypothalamus and the pituitary are both portions of
59 the brain which elaborate hormones which then affect the
60 gonads, meaning the ovaries, and cause them to make
