Favorite Five
My
Favorite Five Articles from Last Month’s Medical Journals
Mammography Is Fraud
Promoted by Industry and Governments
Everyone should read this
entire free article in the British Medical
Journal:
Full Text:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7432/148
PDF File:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/328/7432/148
Presentation on websites of
possible benefits and harms from screening for breast cancer: cross
sectional study, by Karsten Juhl Jorgensen in
the January 17, 2004 British Medical Journal found poor and
severely biased information on the Internet that is harmful to women about
breast cancer screening. The 13 sites from advocacy groups and the 11
from governmental institutions all recommended mammographic
screening, whereas the three from consumer organizations
questioned screening. The organizations were from Australia, Canada,
Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and
the United States. All of the advocacy groups accepted industry funding –
apparently without restrictions. In contrast, the three consumer
organizations acknowledged the risk of bias related to industry
funding, and two of them did not accept such funding at all.
Advocacy groups and governmental organizations presented a positive
view on screening with little concern for major harms of
screening, such as over-diagnosis and over-treatment.
The authors summarize, “The
present situation is that a woman customer who visits a
‘screening shop’ doesn't know what she is buying into, and most
often the shopkeeper either doesn't know or doesn't tell. This
is untenable.”
I recommend against breast
cancer screening because it does far more harm than good (plain and
simple, it doesn’t work, but creates a huge business with great profits).
I realize this position will be unpopular with many people – but it is the
truth. For more on my views on this subject read my book, “The McDougall
Program for Women,” and my February 2002 newsletter article, “Mammography
is Unjustified – A Letter Few Newspapers Will Print.”
Jorgensen KJ, Gotzsche PC.
Presentation on websites of possible benefits and harms from screening for
breast cancer: cross sectional study. BMJ. 2004 Jan 17; 328(7432):
148.
High Carbohydrate* Diet
Causes Effortless Weight Loss
Effects of an Ad
Libitum (without restriction on amount)
Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet on Body Weight, Body Composition, and Fat
Distribution in Older Men and Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
by
Nicholas P. Hays in the January 26, 2004 issue of the
Archives of Internal Medicine found when older men and women consumed
as much as they wanted of high-carbohydrate, low-fat foods they lost
weight without “dieting.” Over 12-weeks, participants
on the recommended diet lost about 7 pounds without cutting calories and
without exercising – and almost 11 pounds with 45 minutes of stationary
bike-riding, four times weekly. The control group lost no weight. The
experimental diet was 63% carbohydrate and 18% fat – the McDougall diet is
even more effective because it is 80% carbohydrate and 7% fat.
This article is an excellent review of the principles discussed in my
book, the McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss, first
published in 1994 (just to point out, not much has happened in 10 years
for better nutrition). The authors provide many recent scientific
references establishing why a high carbohydrate diet effortlessly and
effectively results in weight loss without hunger in overweight people,
and provides a lifetime of trim body weight maintenance.
The
scientific explanations for why a diet of starches, vegetables and fruits
is the real solution for obesity in the Western world are found in this
article. These are the three main principles:
1)
High carbohydrate foods are very low in calorie density – very bulky, so
they fill the stomach with fewer calories than the Western (American)
diet.
2)
The fat you eat is the fat you wear – fat is effortlessly stored – excess
carbohydrates are not turned into fat under normal living conditions –
excess carbohydrate is simply burned off.
3)
Carbohydrates satisfy your hunger drive – fats leave you unsatisfied and
looking for food (carbohydrate). You act like an “Obsessive Compulsive
Overeater” – like you have some kind of emotional-mental disorder, and all
you really are is hungry for carbohydrates.
This article would be well
worth a trip to your local library (hospital, university, or community)
for a copy to help you explain to family and friends why they are on the
wrong track. This article may also be purchased for $12 (US) over the
Internet at:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org.
Nicholas P. Hays; Raymond D.
Starling; Xiaolan Liu; Dennis H. Sullivan; Todd A. Trappe; James D.
Fluckey; William J. Evans.
Effects of an Ad Libitum Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet on Body Weight,
Body Composition, and Fat Distribution in Older Men and Women: A
Randomized Controlled Trial Arch Intern Med.
2004;164:210-217.
* Please understand that when
I write about carbohydrates I mean starches, vegetables, and fruits –
not donuts, cookies, cake, potato chips, and French
fries.
Formula (Bottle) Feeding
Causes Infant Brain Damage
Exclusive breastfeeding of
healthy term infants for at least 6 weeks improves neurological condition
by H. Bouwstra in the December 2003 issue of the
Journal of Nutrition found poorer neurologic function in children
breast-fed less than 6 weeks compared to those who had more breast milk.
General movements are a sensitive marker for the condition of the nervous
system, and when assessed at three months they are a powerful predictor of
future neurologic function. With breast-feeding, 47% of infants were rated
“normal-optimal,” but only 18% who were not breast-fed received this
rating. Furthermore, there was 4 times the risk of receiving a
“mildly-abnormal” score if they were formula-fed rather than breast-fed
(47% vs.12%). The presence of “mildly-normal” generalized movements at 3
months is associated with an increased risk of minor neurological
dysfunction and attention problems at school age.
It has long been recognized
that the intelligence of a child improves with duration of breast-feeding,
but this study shows actual physical impairment of the nervous system in
children deprived of the advantages of human breast milk. The most likely
reason for the difference is the nutritional qualities of breast milk,
which cannot be replicated by drug companies as synthetic infant formulas.
When I become Surgeon General
of the United States the first action I will take is to make infant
formulas available only with a doctor’s prescription – and any doctor who
writes such a prescription will be held accountable to a medical review
board more stringent than the one that now looks over narcotic-drug
prescribing habits of doctors. You can learn more about the importance
of breast-feeding in “The McDougall Program for Women” book.
Bouwstra H, Boersma ER, Boehm
G, Dijck-Brouwer DA, Muskiet FA, Hadders-Algra M. Exclusive breastfeeding
of healthy term infants for at least 6 weeks improves neurological
condition. J Nutr. 2003 Dec; 133(12): 4243-5.
Cow’s Milk Causes Multiple
Sclerosis
Antibody cross-reactivity
between myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and the milk protein
butyrophilin in multiple sclerosis by Johannes
Guggenmos in the January 1, 2004 issue of the Journal of Immunology
found evidence that multiple sclerosis is caused from the consumption of
cow’s milk – by causing attacks by the immune system through a process
known as molecular mimicry.
You may have heard that
multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease or “a disease
where the body attacks itself” – and in this case the nervous system is
attacked. Molecular mimicry is a natural response of the immune system
against foreign proteins misdirected to our own tissues. In this case,
cow-milk proteins enter the bloodstream through the intestinal wall.
Antibodies are made against this foreign substance. Because of the
similarity between the structure of these proteins and the ones that make
up the nervous system tissues, these antibodies attack and destroy parts
of the human brain (myelin). The resulting injury causes loss of vision,
hearing, sensation and strength. Within 10 years of diagnosis, half of
the victims of MS are wheel-chair bound, bed-ridden, or dead – unless they
are fortunate enough to change their diet. With a healthy diet the risk
of getting worse over the next 35 years is less than 5% (See on my home
page the interview with Dr. Roy Swank on MS).
Guggenmos J, Schubart AS, Ogg
S, Andersson M, Olsson T, Mather IH, Linington C. Antibody
cross-reactivity between myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and the milk
protein butyrophilin in multiple sclerosis. J Immunol. 2004 Jan 1;
172(1): 661-8.
Hot Tubs Are Safe for
People with High Blood Pressure
Are hot tubs safe for
people with treated hypertension? By Tae Won
Shin in the December 9, 2003 issue of the Canadian Medical Association
Journal found spending 10 minutes in a hot tub is safe for most people
who are receiving drug treatment for high blood pressure. Twenty-one
people on blood pressure medications were compared to 23 people without
hypertension after being in a hot tub at 40 degrees centigrade (104 F).
There was a little more than a 25% drop in blood pressure in both groups.
The fall in pressure was due to dilation of blood vessels caused by the
heat. A review presented in this paper of the published literature
reveals almost no scientific support for the warning, “People with high
blood pressure should not use the hot tub.”
Of course, the best course of
action for anyone with an elevated blood pressure and/or on medications
for this blood pressure would be to improve the health of the
cardiovascular system with a healthy diet, lifestyle (no coffee or
alcohol), and exercise program. See my August 2002 newsletter article
“Take Blood Pressure at Home - Get off Your Medications,” for more help.
Shin TW, Wilson M, Wilson TW.
Are hot tubs safe for people with treated hypertension? CMAJ. 2003
Dec 9; 169(12): 1265-8.
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