(Yet) another Brick in the wall.

[MikePollard]

Further to my last post, here is more of the same:

clintonherald.com/opinion/x...

As far as I am aware the author of the piece has no conflict of interest ie does not have a book to sell!

[sandybrown]

Hi Mike,

Thank you. It is simple just look at your food intake, your body tells you and give you of any issues! New NHS food plate? GPs and practice nurse needs new guide lines? NHS food specialist again needs new guide lines.

The big question is WHO will start this? . Money making machines do not want to start it!

[YvonneD]

Sorry Mike. I was diagnosed with FH thirty years ago. I cut saturated fats from my diet and am alive and very much kicking still - unlike my Father and four of his siblings who were all dead of heart attacks or stroke between the ages of 43 and 60. They were of the generation who started the day with a healthy "full English" and had hearty winter meals with suet dumplings or crusty pies - the pastry made with lard and butter- drank full cream milk and had cream on all desserts. Olive oil was rubbed on your skin in the summer to help get a tan. I, for one, am not prepared to risk my life by returning to that sort of diet as I have now lived far longer than any of my Father's generation. The scientific research can only find what works or does not for the majority and, I believe, we are all individuals and very few will fit into the "average" profile.

[MikePollard in reply to YvonneD]

Nothing to be sorry for, but be assured the demonisation of saturated fat is a dead duck flying on busted wings (if you can hack a mangled metaphor) - even Diabetes UK is shifting stance. This from today's email:

'For decades, fat has been labelled the 'bad guy' in diet and nutrition. However in recent years, a number of research studies have shown that fat is no worse for us than carbohydrate. In fact, diets that are low in carbohydrate and high in fat are now widely regarded as being healthier, particularly in terms of blood glucose control and weight loss, than low fat, higher carb diet plans'.

In days gone by FH was not considered the death sentence it is today - indeed in the not so distant past people with the less severe form lived a normal lifespan totally unaware they had the condition. Almost certainly they had a diet lower in carbohydrate and higher in fat. Look up Frank Cooper author of the French Paradox. Videos on youtube.

[DakCB-UK]

So it's a syndicated column by Mona Charen published in the Clinton Herald, a small Iowa newspaper, citing an article in the Wall Street Journal and spouting truisms like "Women whose total cholesterol levels are high live longer than those with lower levels" which suggests an author who doesn't understand probability and evidence very well.

Mona Charen is described on wikipedia as a political commentator who seems to be fairly right-wing, a former member of Reagan White House staff. IIRC, I last saw her name denying that human activity affected our climate. So it's not surprising to see yet another Daily-Mail-style health opinion-dressed-as-news item.

It's hilarious that Mona Charen ends with "Don’t accept the argument from authority" - I won't, and that includes this sort of newspaper filler column! Whatever your conclusion, you're far better off reading actual news that cites its sources and doesn't jump to conclusions.

[teessidesitp]

Except that the Clinton newspaper author is reporting on another journalist in another Newspaper rather than on the report itself. There is a link to the report on NHS Choices and the reports authors make no claims of this type at all. They are recommending that the limited trial that they carried out raised some questions that need further investigation, this time on a selection of average age-ranged people rather than a pre-selected group of people with a certain illness that were seemingly not randomised. This is far too early to be turning over the current advice which is "eat small portions of a varied diet including 5 x fruits and vegetables or more a day and get plenty of exercise".

[teessidesitp]

These seem to be highlighting extremes. If you are very low in cholesterol then best not use statins. Those people with very low or very high levels of cholesterol should be treated with caution as they may not respond to treatment in the way that the majority of people with levels within quite a wide range may respond. Those people who are too thin are in more danger if they contract certain illnesses than those who would be regarded as obese. This is exploration of the edges of current knowledge rather than results that would overturn the advice given by the medical advisers. "Eat small portions in a varied diet that includes 5 or more x fruit and vegetables a day and get plenty of exercise". None of these reports would seem to contradict that.