The Rural Voice, 1979-02, Page 18The Voice of A Farmer
by Adrian Vos
Have a heart
It is puzzling to hear on the news a report from the American
Heart Foundation's Annual Meeting, that the incidence of heart
disease has decreased by some 20% in the last ten years, and
then give credit to their campaign to eat less meat, butter and
eggs, for part of this decrease. The other reasons mentioned
were less overeating and more exercise.
The puzzling thing is where the Heart Foundation got the idea
that there is Tess animal fat consumed than ten years ago. Meat
consumption has not decreased. On the contrary, it has
increased because of the higher standard of living in North
America. Butter consumption has declined somewhat, but this
has been replaced by cheaper margarines which are often
hydrogenated and higher cholesterol producing than butter.
It appears that some doctors of the American Heart
Foundation are still practising medicine by statisics, without
updating those same statistics. So many research studies have
been published in the past five years refuting the diet -cholesterol
theory, that it is somewhat embarrassing to see that some
doctors till hold that view.
Actual research, not statistics, have shown time and again that
only from five to 20 per cent of heart patients have a high level
of blood serum cholesteol. This can be brought down with
medication and exercise. It seems incredible that some doctors
would put the whole population on a diet. That is comparable to
advising everyone to avoid all sugar in order to prevent diabetes.
Not very long ago I spoke with a man who was quite upset and
puzzled about the cholesterol theory. His wife had had a heart
attack and now he felt guilty for weeks, until the hospital where
she was staying showed that she didn't have a high level of blood
serum cholesterol. He was bewildered. Here he had read in
newspaper columns by doctors and nutritionists, that meat and
butter and eggs were bad for health, and then he found out that
it had made no difference in his wife's blood.
He was understandably angry at these doctors, who make a
good deal of their income from writing health columns, for
making him feel guilty during his anguish about his wife's
illness.
What all researchers agree on is that obesity leads often to
cardio -vascular disease. And even here there are different
theories why this should be so. Some say that obesity is a
symptom of a lack of exercise, while others claim that the heart
has to work too hard when a person has to carry a heavy weight
around all the time.
All agree that sedentary people, and most of our society is to a
certain degree sedentary, don't get enough exercise to feed their
muscles with oxygen. This can lead to high blood pressure,
stroke, or to heart disease. This can be accompanied by high
cholesterol but this would be a contributing factor. The
cholesterol level has never been proven to be raised to clinical
levels throt.gh diet. Only when the level is high and on the
borderline already, can it be presumably pushed over the brink.
Anyone who is afraid that such could happen to him or her,
would be wise to have the doctor check the cholesterol of the
blood. Unsubstantiated fear can lead to high blood pressure, to a
stroke or a heart attack.
PG. 18 THE RURAL VOICE/FEBRUARY 1979
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