Day 033 - 10 Oct 94 - Page 26
1 That entire cancer can be removed surgically. It is for
2 patients of that type -- or polyps that have not yet
3 become cancerous can be removed. One would then be
4 particularly interested in assuring that such patients had
5 followed a diet that was high in fibre.
6
7 Q. Moving next to immune systems of vegetarians. Do you want
8 to say something about immune systems in general and then
9 why you specifically looked at vegetarians?
10 A. Yes. Intermixed with the red blood cells which course
11 through one's arteries and veins to carry oxygen, there
12 are white blood cells which are, if I may say so, sentries
13 that the body employs against bacteria, viruses and also
14 against cancer cells. The white blood cells -- if the
15 white blood cells are functional, they can recognise a
16 cancer cell and, through a variety of very complicated
17 mechanisms, destroy that cancer cell, and they are a line
18 of defence against cancer.
19
20 If the immune system is impaired, all that simply means is
21 that the white blood cells are not able to recognise or to
22 engulf or to destroy a cancer cell or an infected
23 organism, as happens, for example, in Acquired Immune
24 Deficiency Syndrome. Individuals lose the normal
25 functioning of their white blood cells to a degree and
26 they then have a much higher incidence of cancer.
27
28 Researchers have investigated whether high fat diets may
29 impair immune defences against cancer, because here again
30 we are beyond the point of finding associations; we are
31 looking at what are the causes (and there are clearly a
32 multiple). One of these seems to be that high fat diets
33 impair immunity. There are several lines of research,
34 some of which I have mentioned here in my statement.
35
36 In fact, some of the studies that have been done have
37 acquired somewhat heroic participation on the part of
38 subjects. Some subjects have been hooked up to
39 intravenous lines in which fat has actually been dripped
40 into their blood system and the function of their white
41 blood cells is then assessed. One common way of assessing
42 the function of white blood cells is to put them in a dish
43 with standardised cancer cells to see how quickly the
44 white blood cells can destroy the cancer cells.
45
46 If one does an experiment of the type I have described,
47 where you actually have lipid infusion, fat infusion, if
48 you will, studies have shown that, in fact, immunity is
49 impaired, suggesting that if there is more fat in the
50 blood one will have reduced defences against cancer.
51
52 However, researchers have not stopped there. One has also
53 -- researchers have also examined whether a high fat diet
54 alone, without any intravenous equipment, can of itself
55 impair the function of white blood cells. In fact, one
56 sees exactly the same thing, that white blood cells are
57 less functional against cancer cells.
58
59 This also occurs simply in a test tube. If you add fat to
60 cultures of cells, some of the white blood cells are
