Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 51


     
     1        stake and I would suggest to you that really we are looking
     2        at two things in this evidence of the Finnish.  The Finnish
     3        population is rather unique in this respect and we are
     4        looking at two things:  The fact that they had a very high
     5        milk consumption, and secondly that they do have this
     6        rather interesting fibre and this protector.  And I think,
     7        as scientists, one has always got to be alerted to the fact
     8        that there are going to in different circumstances be
     9        different situations which are going to end up with a
    10        similar kind of result.
    11
    12   Q.   With that in mind, can I ask you to look at what Sir
    13        Richard Dhol himself said ten years after that Finnish
    14        paper, which you will find in the same orange volume at tab
    15        16.
    16        A.   Yes.
    17
    18   Q.   Which comes, I think, from the Journal of Cancer Research
    19        and Clinical Authority in 1988.  And it is again by Sir
    20        Richard Dhol, headed epidemiology and prevention of cancer,
    21        some recent developments.  Can I ask you to look over the
    22        page at page 448 under the heading, in the left-hand
    23        column, "Dietary Factors"?
    24        A.  Can you say again the page number?
    25
    26   Q.   Sorry, 448, top left-hand corner.
    27        A.  Yes, I see.
    28
    29   Q.   There is a bold heading: "Dietary Factors"?
    30        A.   Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   Can I ask you, again because everybody has heard me read
    33        this a number of times, just to read that single entry
    34        under Dietary Factors to yourself and tell me when you have
    35        finished?
    36        A.   Yes, I have read that.
    37
    38   Q.   Now, is there anything as of eight years later in that
    39        which you disagree with?
    40        A.   Yes, I think so.  I think Willett has published his
    41        data on colon cancer since then.
    42
    43   Q.   Yes?
    44        A.   And I think that Willett has come to the conclusion
    45        that both colon and prostate cancer are related to dietary
    46        fats and particularly to animal fats and in the case of
    47        prostate cancer to meat.  He is consistent with, I think,
    48        the contemporary evidence when he talks about large amounts
    49        of betacarotene protects against a wide range of cancers.
    50
    51        Essentially the betacarotene, as I think I explained to the
    52        court earlier, is one of the major anti-oxidants that
    53        occurs in fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly fresh
    54        green vegetables, and that is associated with again several
    55        other protective agents.  And the point that I again made
    56        and made in my submission in writing is that the diets in
    57        general and indeed the meals in general that are rich in
    58        saturated fats and high in fat tend to be those that are
    59        poorest with regard to these protective agents.  So by and
    60        large, I agree with what he says.

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