Day 256 - 04 Jun 96 - Page 43


     
     1
     2   Q.  "As already mentioned, fat intake in rural China is
     3        exceptionally low when compared with Western experience.
     4        In addition to its correlation with plasma cholesterol, fat
     5        intake was also correlated weakly but significantly with"
     6        -- and you give the figure for the correlation -- "breast
     7        cancer."
     8
     9        Then you go on:  "However, Chinese women, when compared
    10        with British women for example, exhibited later age at
    11        menarche, earlier age at menopause, greater parity, earlier
    12        age at first birth, and lower circulating concentrations of
    13        estrogen, all of which favour a reduction in breast
    14        cancer."
    15        A.  Right.
    16
    17   Q.   Is it your view that all of those factors favour a
    18        reduction in breast cancer?
    19        A.  Yes -- each of which are, in turn, influenced by
    20        dietary fat intake.
    21
    22   Q.   By -----
    23        A.  By dietary fat intake or each of which are influenced
    24        by, let us say, high fat diets or increasing levels of fat.
    25
    26   Q.   Why does greater parity or earlier age at first birth
    27        derive itself from any kind of a dietary factor?
    28        A.  I am sorry, I did miss that.
    29
    30   Q.   There are two there at least, are there not, greater parity
    31        and earlier age at first birth?
    32        A.  I am sorry, I was thinking of the age at menarche,
    33        early age of menopause and circulating levels of estrogen.
    34        Some of them made some connection with parity and first
    35        pregnancy, but were rather tenuous.
    36
    37   Q.   Exactly.  Those two, most people in the scientific
    38        community would agree, are they not, Professor Campbell,
    39        social considerations:  the number of children you have and
    40        the age at which you first have them?
    41        A.  Yes.
    42
    43   Q.   Now -----
    44        A.  But can I add a point here?  That is true, your
    45        question, my answer; but they, amongst those five, are the
    46        lesser -- are the factors of lesser significance than, for
    47        example, age of menarche and age of menopause, and
    48        circulating estrogen levels.  Those three, which are
    49        connected to diet, are easily the most consistently found
    50        to be of significant associations. 
    51 
    52   Q.   There is another dietary factor which I am not -- this is 
    53        not a criticism, because it does not fit into the order of
    54        your text here -- but there is another factor as well which
    55        you would, I think, say accounted for perhaps a lower rate
    56        of breast cancer in Chinese women, and that is that they
    57        eat more plants?
    58        A.  Yes.
    59
    60   Q.   If all those things be taken into account, the correlation

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