Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 11


     
     1        I say now that I am hopeful -- I do not know what your
     2        travel arrangements have now become -- that I will not
     3        travel over into tomorrow.
     4
     5        Anyway, can you turn over the page to 92:  4.1.3.  Intakes
     6        of saturated fatty acids:  "Saturated fatty acids and
     7        cholesterol are not essential nutrients and their
     8        importance relates directly to their effects in increasing
     9        blood cholesterol concentrations and promoting the
    10        development of coronary heart disease.  As noted
    11        previously (section 3), no lower limit to serum
    12        cholesterol has been identified below which a beneficial
    13        reduction in coronary heart disease cannot be expected so
    14        national nutrition policies should seek to minimise intake
    15        of saturated fatty acids".
    16
    17        Dr. Barnard, is that to suggest -- correct me if I am
    18        wrong -- that the relationship between the risk of
    19        coronary heart disease and the intake of saturated fatty
    20        acids is linear, directly proportional?
    21        A.  No, I do not believe it is quite as specific as that,
    22        but it does say that with the reduction in one, you would
    23         -- one would expect a reduction in the other, but it does
    24        not characterise the mathematical relationship between the
    25        two as linear.
    26
    27   Q.   "These fatty acids may also be specifically involved in
    28        promoting cancers, particularly of the colon and breast,
    29        although the evidence remains inconsistent.  The main
    30        justification for limiting saturated fatty acid intake
    31        should therefore be the prevention of coronory heart
    32        disease".  As at 1990, do you regard that as an acceptable
    33        statement of the state of medical knowledge?
    34        A.  It is a reasonable statement.  One might quibble with
    35        it in minor ways, but it is reasonable, particularly since
    36        heart disease (at least in western countries) claims more
    37        victims than does malignant disease.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think Mr. Rampton was putting the
    40        penultimate sentence as well as the last sentence in the
    41        paragraph and asking whether you agreed.  Was that not
    42        right, Mr. Rampton?
    43
    44   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, yes.
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is both.
    47
    48   MR. RAMPTON:  Both those two sentences.
    49        A.  Pardon me, I would agree.
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You would agree, would you? 
    52        A.  Yes. 
    53
    54   MR. RAMPTON:  Thank you.  That is Dr. Arnott's references.  So
    55        can you keep those out because now what I am going to ask
    56        you to do, if I may, is to look at just a very few and
    57        only one case or two of any length.  Some of the papers
    58        which Dr. Arnott has put before the court which, so far as
    59        I am aware, are not referred to anywhere in your
    60        references.

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