The perils of a fatty diet

Press, 26 January 1984, Page 17

The perils of a fatty diet

A 10-year United States Government study of 3800 American men has provided the first “incontrovertible evidence” that lowering cholesterol in the blood stream reduces both signs of heart disease and fatal heart attacks. Cholesterol is the waxy, fatty material that silts up inside arteries throughout the body. , The study shows that the more cholesterol is lowered the greater the benefit. Average reduction in heart disease deaths was about 24 per cent but men who lowered their cholesterol levels by 25 per cent cut their coronary disease risk by as much as half. The study has been described by its directors at the United States National Institutes of Health as “the missing link” in the long association between eating animal fats, high blood cholesterol levels, and subsequent heart disease. The study was conducted by N.l.H.’s Heart, Blood and Lung Institute at 12 clinics all over the country. The 3800 men, aged between 35 and 59, all had levels of

cholesterol that put them at high risk. Half the men were put on a moderately low fat diet — fewer eggs and dairy products and less fatty meat — and were given a cholesterol-lowering drug. The other half were put on the same diet but were given an ineffective placebo. The two groups were very carefully matched for smoking and drinking habits, blood pressure, and exercise. For the first two years there was little difference between them, but as time went on they diverged sharply. At the end of the study not only were there 24 per cent fewer coronary deaths among those taking the drug and diet, but there were also 20 per cent less angina, 25 per cent fewer signs of developing heart trouble with exercise stress testing, and 21 per cent fewer coronary by-pass operations. The directors stressed that the actual difference in over-all cholesterol lowering between the two groups was, at 8 per cent, rela-

tively low. This implied that the benefit attained from even modest reductions would be enormous if extrapolated to the entire population. About one in 20 Americans has cholesterol levels way above the United States average of 220 milligrams for each decilitre of blood. Levels of those in the study were above 265 mg and the directors stressed that the men who took their drugs most faithfully showed the greatest lowering of cholesterol and cut their heart risk by 50 per cent. The N.I.H. scientists conclude: “As a rough rule of thumb, each 1 per cent fall in cholesterol was associated with a two-per cent reduction in the rate of heart attack.” Dr Basil Rifkind, who led the trial, says: “The major purpose was to establish that lowering cholesterol carries a major advantage. We already know from many other studies that low fat diets will produce a lowering.” Copyright— London Observer Service.