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

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