A documentary expose of how pharmaceutical companies create demand for…
Cholesterol, the Great Bluff
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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For more than six decades, doctors, nutritionists, and public health officials have been waging a war against high cholesterol in an effort to fight heart disease. It’s a war that has seen the demonization of saturated fats, the rise and fall of hydrogenated oils, and the introduction of several generations of “miracle” drugs.
But what if the basic premise linking cholesterol and heart disease is wrong?
CHOLESTEROL, THE GREAT BLUFF convincingly argues that the link between cholesterol and heart disease is tenuous – and that its persistence results from a potent mix of bad science, entrenched interests, and pharmaceutical profits.
The problems date from the earliest days of the cholesterol hypothesis, first proposed by physiologist Ancel Keys, who proposed that a diet high in saturated fight leads to cardiovascular disease. GP and medical journalist Dominique Dupagne cites evidence that Keys cherry-picked his data. But it was too late. Americans were trying to understand what lay behind the soaring rate of heart attacks, and fat seemed like the perfect villain. Once saturated fats were to blame, heavily industrialized products such as "pure vegetable shortening"—the result of a process including emulsification, bleaching, and steam-cleaning—come to be seen as healthier foods.
As the film makes clear, researchers who made any serious attempt to study other hypotheses—that sugar led to vascular disease, for instance—found themselves threatened, their research funding cut and their careers derailed.
CHOLESTEROL, THE GREAT BLUFF deploys an array of authoritative and engaging experts to attack the foundations of the cholesterol hypothesis. Author and nutritionist Sylvain Duval uses markers and easy-to-understand analogies to explain the mechanisms of how cholesterol works and how the body uses different fats. Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz lays out how Keys came to demonize cholesterol, and details the intimidation faced by those who sought alternatives. Cardiologist and nutritionist Michel de Lorgeril, who did the first study on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, is scathing in his views on the pharmaceutical industry’s complicity in propagating faulty research, including the studies that led to the widespread adoption of statins. The film also hears from an array of other researchers, physicians, and writers who, among other things, question the notion of "good" and "bad" cholesterol.
Peppered throughout are vintage and recent clips from advertising (including Tom & Jerry pushing margarine), sponsored films, and newscasts blaring the latest cholesterol breakthroughs.
"Clear and pointed." —Télérama
"An explosive investigation." —Films & Documentaires.com
"Exposes and denies all of the accepted ideas about cholesterol. The results are as fascinating as they are surprising." —Télé-Loisirs
"Not to be missed!" —Thierry Souccar Editions
Citation
Main credits
Georget, Anne (film director)
Other credits
Image & sound, Olivier Raffet, Scott Sinkler; editing, Valérie Salvy.
Distributor subjects
Aging; Biology; Cholesterol; Culture; Ethics; Health Issues; Media; Politics; ScienceKeywords
; "Cholesterol, the Great Bluff"; Docuseek2; cholesterol; cardiovascular disease; Anne Georget; Sylvain Duval; Nina Teicholz; Ancel Keys; Michel de Lorgeril; documentary; doc; science; healthcare; health;
WEBVTT
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♪
00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:13.041
♪ Are the stars out tonight ♪
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♪ I don\'t know
if it\'s cloudy or bright ♪
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♪\'Cause I only have eyes
for you ♪
00:00:25.625 --> 00:00:26.667
♪ Dear ♪
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♪ The moon ♪
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This American advert
for an anti-cholesterol drug
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tells us that an insidious evil
can eat away at us,
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even if we feel healthy.
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For the last 60 years,
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cholesterol
has been the subject
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of fierce scientific disputes
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and huge industrial revenue.
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Which arguments
and which influences
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lead us to believe
that cholesterol
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has a harmful effect
on our arteries?
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How has cholesterol earned
itself a negative reputation
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when it\'s a substance that
is essential for our survival?
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♪
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♪ You are ♪
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The story we want
to tell you today
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is really sort of
a detective story
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and it has a complicated plot.
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The killer
is cardiovascular disease.
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Heart failure,
as some of us call it.
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The victims
or potential victims
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are you and me.
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And the detectives
are a team of scientists
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operating at
the University of Minnesota.
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The facts are simple.
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You know the chief killer
of Americans
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is cardiovascular disease.
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Disorders and degeneration
of the heart and blood vessels.
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Of ten men, we can expect
five to get it.
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In the 1950s,
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there had been
this rising tide
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of heart attacks,
of heart disease.
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Middle-aged men were having
heart attacks in their prime
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and there was a real sense
of panic in the country.
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I mean, these are men
whose fathers
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had not had
heart attacks.
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It was a new phenomenon
for people.
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In 1955, President Eisenhower
himself had a heart attack
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and was out of the Oval Office
for ten days.
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You can imagine the panic
of the entire nation.
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The eyes of the nation
and the world
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were focused on Fitzsimons
Army Hospital in Denver,
00:02:11.375 --> 00:02:12.542
where Major John Eisenhower
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and White House Press Secretary
James Hagerty
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arrived during
the first hours
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after word that President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
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had suffered
a heart attack.
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Boston specialist
Dr. Paul Dudley White,
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arriving with Mr. Hagerty,
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described tissue injury
to an anterior heart wall
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as a moderate attack.
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And there was a sense
of crisis, urgency,
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about finding out
what caused heart disease.
00:03:05.625 --> 00:03:06.959
And there were a number
of ideas about it.
00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:09.834
One was it might be
vitamin deficiency,
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maybe it was auto exhaust.
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You know, there were
a number of ideas,
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but there was one idea
proposed by Ancel Keys,
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who was a researcher at
the University of Minnesota,
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he was a pathologist,
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and it was his idea
that it was saturated fats
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that caused heart disease.
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Saturated fats would cause
your total cholesterol to go up,
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which was the only thing they
could measure in those days,
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and that would
clog your arteries
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and give you
a heart attack.
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It was called
the diet-heart hypothesis.
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Here are vital statistics.
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They show that this problem
here in America
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is the worst in the world.
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Probably our mode of life
and our diet are involved.
00:03:48.208 --> 00:03:52.125
But the trouble is we just
don\'t know enough about it.
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It strikes without warning,
but we can\'t say...
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When President Eisenhower
had a heart attack,
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Keys came to the fore
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because this doctor
who was flown in
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to treat Eisenhower,
00:04:07.083 --> 00:04:10.166
immediately put him
on a low-fat diet,
00:04:10.166 --> 00:04:12.500
said it was his diet
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that had caused
the heart attack,
00:04:14.125 --> 00:04:17.959
not the fact that he smoked
like a chimney.
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You know?
Oh no.
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The source of Keys\' idea
came from this idea,
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there\'s a disease where you get
fatty deposits under your skin,
00:04:28.041 --> 00:04:30.041
they\'re called xanthomas.
00:04:30.041 --> 00:04:30.917
And you can see them,
00:04:30.917 --> 00:04:32.417
people get them
on their eyelids and...
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And they\'re--they have
cholesterol in them.
00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:41.458
And so the idea was
that same cholesterol
00:04:41.458 --> 00:04:43.834
would be inside
your arteries.
00:04:43.834 --> 00:04:45.500
And then they would
block your arteries.
00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:47.083
And it came
from this cholesterol.
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So cholesterol was the first
kind of evil demon.
00:04:52.083 --> 00:04:54.834
Keys provides
this hypothesis,
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people start testing it,
scientists start testing it,
00:04:57.458 --> 00:05:00.083
but simultaneously
the research community
00:05:00.083 --> 00:05:03.709
starts talking about it
as if it\'s probably true,
00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:05.375
it just needs to be confirmed.
00:05:05.375 --> 00:05:07.583
What they like to say is,
00:05:07.583 --> 00:05:08.500
\"We\'re trying to nail--
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cross the t\'s and dot the i\'s
on the evidence.\"
00:05:12.333 --> 00:05:14.999
(projector spinning)
00:05:15.333 --> 00:05:18.083
In 1958, Ancel Keys
launched a study
00:05:18.083 --> 00:05:21.041
on an unprecedented scale
across seven countries,
00:05:21.041 --> 00:05:24.917
Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy,
The Netherlands, Finland,
00:05:24.917 --> 00:05:26.583
The United States,
and Japan.
00:05:26.583 --> 00:05:28.291
At the heart
of these observations
00:05:28.291 --> 00:05:30.875
remained the statistical link
between food,
00:05:30.875 --> 00:05:33.458
particularly fatty foods,
cholesterol levels,
00:05:33.458 --> 00:05:35.917
and the risk
of cardiovascular disease
00:05:35.917 --> 00:05:37.458
among populations.
00:05:37.458 --> 00:05:40.500
(projector spinning)
00:05:40.999 --> 00:05:42.542
A step test
for exercise
00:05:42.542 --> 00:05:44.542
in a village
in Central Serbia
00:05:44.542 --> 00:05:46.041
where the men had never
ridden a bicycle,
00:05:46.041 --> 00:05:50.875
so we had to use a step test
instead of a bicycle ergometer.
00:05:50.875 --> 00:05:54.834
This is a preparation of
the diets that we collected.
00:05:54.834 --> 00:05:56.291
This is Margaret Keys
who set up
00:05:56.291 --> 00:06:02.667
the cholesterol laboratories
for these pilot studies.
00:06:02.917 --> 00:06:07.583
Examined about 12,000 men
in 14 areas of 7 countries.
00:06:07.583 --> 00:06:10.208
(projector spinning)
00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:13.083
And we had people
calling in from Finland
00:06:13.083 --> 00:06:15.041
saying that there were more
heart attacks there
00:06:15.041 --> 00:06:16.291
than anywhere in the world.
00:06:16.291 --> 00:06:17.667
And we had Japanese visitors
00:06:17.667 --> 00:06:18.542
who said, \"Come see us.\"
00:06:18.542 --> 00:06:21.458
So that combination
of circumstances.
00:06:21.458 --> 00:06:24.583
After that,
after you choose the variation
00:06:24.583 --> 00:06:28.792
and the variables
you\'re gonna study,
00:06:28.792 --> 00:06:30.458
it\'s entirely
where you get cooperation,
00:06:30.458 --> 00:06:34.208
where you have the chance
of getting in a community.
00:06:34.208 --> 00:06:37.250
(projector running)
00:06:38.375 --> 00:06:40.625
The conclusions
of the seven-country study
00:06:40.625 --> 00:06:45.375
are that there are
very large differences
00:06:45.375 --> 00:06:49.291
in the rate
of heart attacks
00:06:49.291 --> 00:06:51.709
between these cultures.
00:06:51.709 --> 00:06:53.792
On the order
of five to tenfold,
00:06:53.792 --> 00:06:55.959
which we could already find
in five years.
00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:59.000
We found differences
the first time we examined.
00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.083
We were much more sure of it.
00:07:00.083 --> 00:07:01.458
When you follow them
five years,
00:07:01.458 --> 00:07:04.500
we were much more sure
at ten years.
00:07:05.709 --> 00:07:07.750
There were
remarkable differences
00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:10.667
in the distribution
of certain cholesterol,
00:07:10.667 --> 00:07:12.375
your topic of the day.
00:07:12.375 --> 00:07:14.999
I\'m sorry I don\'t have
the slide,
00:07:14.999 --> 00:07:17.250
but the distribution
of cholesterol in Japan
00:07:17.250 --> 00:07:18.375
will go like this.
00:07:18.375 --> 00:07:19.417
And then Finland
goes like this.
00:07:19.417 --> 00:07:21.625
And there\'s a tiny little
overlap.
00:07:21.625 --> 00:07:23.542
The highest cholesterols
in Japan
00:07:23.542 --> 00:07:26.166
barely overlap the lowest
cholesterols in Finland.
00:07:26.166 --> 00:07:28.542
I mean, it\'s one
of the most elegant slides
00:07:28.542 --> 00:07:30.709
and it tells you so much.
00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:15.291
It\'s a normal human instinct
00:10:15.291 --> 00:10:18.500
to see what you want
to see, right?
00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:20.125
And then kind of
just not see
00:10:20.125 --> 00:10:21.375
all the arguments
to the contrary.
00:10:21.375 --> 00:10:23.999
But, of course,
scientists are taught
00:10:23.999 --> 00:10:27.041
to fight that
natural instinct,
00:10:27.041 --> 00:10:31.583
to rigorously test
and distrust their own ideas.
00:10:31.583 --> 00:10:35.875
That is the training
of a scientist.
00:10:35.875 --> 00:10:37.291
And what you see
in this field
00:10:37.291 --> 00:10:39.750
is repeatedly that that\'s
just simply not the case.
00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:43.041
I mean, Ancel Keys is the most
incredible example of that,
00:10:43.041 --> 00:10:44.834
where he, you know,
00:10:44.834 --> 00:10:46.667
he says,
00:10:46.667 --> 00:10:48.625
\"I\'m right
and I\'m waiting
00:10:48.625 --> 00:10:51.583
for the information
to prove me wrong.\"
00:10:51.583 --> 00:10:54.834
22 years ago, the nation\'s
first major program
00:10:54.834 --> 00:10:57.917
aimed at finding how widespread
heart disease is,
00:10:57.917 --> 00:11:00.250
how it develops,
and what its causes are,
00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:03.625
more than 5,000 people
were examined regularly
00:11:03.625 --> 00:11:04.417
and the Framingham Study
00:11:04.417 --> 00:11:07.333
just renewed after producing
remarkable results
00:11:07.333 --> 00:11:10.792
is now testing
a second generation.
00:11:44.083 --> 00:11:48.041
For each one milligram
per deciliter per year drop
00:11:48.041 --> 00:11:49.667
in serum cholesterol values
00:11:49.667 --> 00:11:52.709
throughout
the 14 years\' period
00:11:52.709 --> 00:11:54.500
of cholesterol measurement,
00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:57.458
there is an 11% increase
00:11:57.458 --> 00:11:59.458
in both the overall death rate
00:11:59.458 --> 00:12:03.750
and the cardiovascular
death rate.
00:13:08.709 --> 00:13:10.417
We think the bad cholesterols
00:13:10.417 --> 00:13:11.917
are all in part of a system
00:13:11.917 --> 00:13:13.500
that go out and deposit this
00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:16.083
in the arteries of your heart
and the brain,
00:13:16.083 --> 00:13:17.333
all these cholesterol deposits.
00:13:17.333 --> 00:13:21.458
We think the good one goes out
and tries to take that away
00:13:21.458 --> 00:13:23.583
and tries to undo all that.
00:13:23.583 --> 00:13:25.709
So we feel that how
you turn out in life
00:13:25.709 --> 00:13:29.999
is the outcome of that battle
between the good and the bad.
00:16:55.625 --> 00:16:58.999
The brain is the organ with
the highest cholesterol content
00:16:58.999 --> 00:17:00.208
in the entire human body.
00:17:00.208 --> 00:17:01.750
But cholesterol
produced by the liver
00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:03.999
doesn\'t pass the brain\'s
protective barrier.
00:17:03.999 --> 00:17:06.166
Researchers are therefore
trying to explain
00:17:06.166 --> 00:17:09.333
how the cholesterol level
is able to stay the same
00:17:09.333 --> 00:17:11.625
within this organ.
00:18:06.125 --> 00:18:09.792
♪
00:18:09.792 --> 00:18:14.458
Promise presents Tom and Jerry
inButter Trouble.
00:18:14.458 --> 00:18:23.125
♪
00:18:23.125 --> 00:18:27.166
Promise Buttery Light
has 85% less saturated fat
00:18:27.166 --> 00:18:29.333
and no cholesterol.
00:18:29.333 --> 00:18:30.083
♪
00:18:30.083 --> 00:18:31.542
So it\'s a better choice
than butter
00:18:31.542 --> 00:18:36.417
to help reduce the risk
of heart disease.
00:18:36.417 --> 00:18:37.709
♪
00:18:37.709 --> 00:18:41.875
Are you still eating butter?
00:20:09.917 --> 00:20:12.333
The discovery
that these vegetables oils
00:20:12.333 --> 00:20:13.917
lowered cholesterol levels
00:20:13.917 --> 00:20:15.333
then led
to a close interlinking
00:20:15.333 --> 00:20:17.750
with research
on cardiovascular diseases
00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:20.792
and the food industry
began using these oils
00:20:20.792 --> 00:20:23.041
for its products.
00:20:23.041 --> 00:20:23.709
For example,
00:20:23.709 --> 00:20:27.208
in this promotional film
by food giant Best Foods,
00:20:27.208 --> 00:20:30.000
with the prominent researcher
Jeremiah Stamler
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.000
supporting Ancel Keys
in the need
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.834
for a dramatic reduction
in cholesterol.
00:20:36.375 --> 00:20:40.000
Cheese is a long-time
favorite of mine,
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:40.792
like many people.
00:20:40.792 --> 00:20:44.125
I guess that and ice cream
are the two high-fat products
00:20:44.125 --> 00:20:46.834
that I\'ve always
liked the most
00:20:46.834 --> 00:20:50.750
and I find it hardest
to use self-restraint on.
00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:54.333
But we hope to have
modified cheeses
00:20:54.333 --> 00:20:56.542
in quantity
and of good quality.
00:20:56.542 --> 00:20:57.417
We don\'t yet.
00:20:57.417 --> 00:20:58.959
We have a few,
00:20:58.959 --> 00:20:59.834
very limited supply,
00:20:59.834 --> 00:21:03.083
and not high-quality
in terms of taste and flavor.
00:21:03.083 --> 00:21:04.667
But the industry\'s
working on this
00:21:04.667 --> 00:21:07.041
and I\'m sure
if we got to the moon
00:21:07.041 --> 00:21:09.999
we can solve this problem.
00:22:41.208 --> 00:22:44.375
How do they get
from the liquid oil
00:22:44.375 --> 00:22:46.333
that they get
out of the seeds
00:22:46.333 --> 00:22:49.208
to a solid fat
like butter?
00:22:49.208 --> 00:22:51.792
And it\'s quite a process.
00:22:51.792 --> 00:22:53.542
First they take the oil
out of the seed,
00:22:53.542 --> 00:22:55.083
that\'s a very
high-temperature process.
00:22:55.083 --> 00:22:59.291
And what comes out of the seed
looks like black gunk.
00:22:59.291 --> 00:23:02.083
It\'s--it\'s disgusting.
00:23:02.083 --> 00:23:05.917
Then they clean it up
a little bit.
00:23:05.917 --> 00:23:07.542
Then it goes through
this process
00:23:07.542 --> 00:23:08.709
of partial hydrogenation.
00:23:08.709 --> 00:23:10.000
And this is how it\'s done.
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.750
They mix the oil
with powdered nickel,
00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:16.500
and it\'s put
into a big reactor
00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:19.000
under high temperature
and high pressure,
00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:20.792
hydrogen gas
is bubbled through.
00:23:20.792 --> 00:23:24.458
What goes into that reactor
is a liquid oil,
00:23:24.458 --> 00:23:27.999
what comes out
is a semi-solid,
00:23:27.999 --> 00:23:30.999
looks like
gray cottage cheese.
00:23:30.999 --> 00:23:33.250
So then they have
to clean that up.
00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:35.917
They add emulsifiers
to smooth out the lumps.
00:23:35.917 --> 00:23:39.208
They steam clean it to get rid
of the terrible odor.
00:23:39.208 --> 00:23:41.583
And I mean this stuff
smells horrible.
00:23:41.583 --> 00:23:46.959
And then they bleach it
to get rid of the gray color.
00:23:46.959 --> 00:23:49.583
At that point you have
what they call
00:23:49.583 --> 00:23:50.500
pure vegetable shortening,
00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:53.834
that\'s what\'s used
in cookies, crackers.
00:23:53.834 --> 00:24:04.041
♪
00:24:11.417 --> 00:24:13.250
In the 1970s,
00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:14.709
a woman named Mary Enig
00:24:14.709 --> 00:24:15.583
started looking into it
00:24:15.583 --> 00:24:20.041
and she noticed that
trans fats paralleled--
00:24:20.041 --> 00:24:21.333
the increase
in trans fats paralleled
00:24:21.333 --> 00:24:23.834
the increase
in cancer rates,
00:24:23.834 --> 00:24:25.375
which is just an association,
00:24:25.375 --> 00:24:26.166
but it was observed.
00:24:26.166 --> 00:24:28.291
But even then when she started
asking questions,
00:24:28.291 --> 00:24:31.458
she started having
these experiences like
00:24:31.458 --> 00:24:33.959
the people from
the vegetable oil industry
00:24:33.959 --> 00:24:35.999
would come and visit her
in her office.
00:24:35.999 --> 00:24:37.834
The president
of the Margarine Association
00:24:37.834 --> 00:24:41.999
came and visited her
and told her to, you know,
00:24:41.999 --> 00:24:42.917
stop doing this research.
00:24:42.917 --> 00:24:46.625
There\'s a story she tells
about a journal editor
00:24:46.625 --> 00:24:48.291
where she was gonna have her
paper published,
00:24:48.291 --> 00:24:50.041
the journal editor
receiving phone calls
00:24:50.041 --> 00:24:55.333
trying to get them to stop
publication of the paper.
00:24:55.333 --> 00:24:57.250
I talked to people
who were kind of inside
00:24:57.250 --> 00:25:00.375
the Institute for Shortening
and Edible Oils,
00:25:00.375 --> 00:25:02.417
which is the Washington,
D.C.-based association
00:25:02.417 --> 00:25:06.250
that is designed to protect
that industry.
00:25:06.250 --> 00:25:08.917
And they have
a scientific advisory team,
00:25:08.917 --> 00:25:10.041
and I talked
to members of that
00:25:10.041 --> 00:25:13.750
and they confirmed
that there was no end of tactics
00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:16.166
they would employ to try
to defend their product.
00:25:16.166 --> 00:25:18.125
This is
an interesting thing now,
00:25:18.125 --> 00:25:19.208
we have this here.
00:25:19.208 --> 00:25:20.000
Now the ordinary recipe,
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.500
it\'s worth talking about
how you can modify things
00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:23.625
with no trouble at all.
00:25:23.625 --> 00:25:26.750
We like waffles,
we like flapjacks.
00:25:26.750 --> 00:25:29.834
The recipe
calls for one egg
00:25:29.834 --> 00:25:31.250
and a half a cup of milk.
00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:32.667
We throw away the yolk.
00:25:32.667 --> 00:25:33.583
I shouldn\'t say that.
00:25:33.583 --> 00:25:34.917
We give some of the yolk
to our dog
00:25:34.917 --> 00:25:36.333
\'cause it\'s good
for his coat
00:25:36.333 --> 00:25:37.959
and he\'s more resistant
than humans
00:25:37.959 --> 00:25:38.959
to hardening of the arteries.
00:25:38.959 --> 00:25:40.999
No joke, this is
what we actually do.
00:25:40.999 --> 00:25:42.583
And we use the egg white.
00:25:42.583 --> 00:25:45.750
Instead of one egg white
we use two.
00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:51.250
And we use oil
instead of the egg yolk.
00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:52.208
So we up the amount of oil.
00:25:52.208 --> 00:25:55.125
Instead of two tablespoons
we make it three.
00:25:55.125 --> 00:25:56.083
And a half a cup of milk.
00:25:56.083 --> 00:25:59.041
We make it our business
to use skim milk
00:25:59.041 --> 00:25:59.917
instead of whole milk.
00:25:59.917 --> 00:26:03.875
People have been our guests
for waffles, for pancakes,
00:26:03.875 --> 00:26:06.208
Saturday, Sunday morning
for breakfast for years,
00:26:06.208 --> 00:26:07.500
nobody ever noticed
a difference.
00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:12.000
This little book,
Your Heart Has Nine Lives,
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.875
is by Jeremiah Stamler, MD.
00:26:16.875 --> 00:26:19.125
And it was...
00:26:19.125 --> 00:26:24.834
And it was sent out
to thousands of doctors
00:26:24.834 --> 00:26:26.417
all over the country.
00:26:26.417 --> 00:26:28.208
And here it is,
it says,
00:26:28.208 --> 00:26:30.625
\"This special edition is
published by Pocket Books
00:26:30.625 --> 00:26:36.208
in association with
the Corn Products Company,\"
00:26:36.208 --> 00:26:39.125
as an advertisement
for corn oil.
00:26:39.125 --> 00:26:40.208
And here it is
in the back,
00:26:40.208 --> 00:26:42.041
an advertisement
for Mazola Margarine
00:26:42.041 --> 00:26:44.999
and Mazola Corn Oil
as part of this book.
00:26:44.999 --> 00:26:48.208
The rest of the book is
dedicated to talking about,
00:26:48.208 --> 00:26:49.500
you know,
science and heart attacks.
00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:52.625
Heart disease is the nation\'s
number one--number one killer.
00:26:52.625 --> 00:26:54.542
♪ You make me feel
so young ♪
00:26:54.542 --> 00:26:56.333
An estimated
60 million Americans
00:26:56.333 --> 00:26:57.375
have high serum cholesterol.
00:26:57.375 --> 00:27:00.166
♪ You make me feel there are
songs to be sung ♪
00:27:00.166 --> 00:27:02.291
Too much saturated fat--
saturated fat
00:27:02.291 --> 00:27:03.417
may be bad for your heart.
00:27:03.417 --> 00:27:06.500
♪ And every time
I see you grin ♪
00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:07.375
Bad for you heart.
00:27:07.375 --> 00:27:11.083
♪ I\'m such a happy individual ♪
00:27:11.083 --> 00:27:11.917
For your heart.
00:27:11.917 --> 00:27:13.709
In 1948,
Procter and Gamble,
00:27:13.709 --> 00:27:15.041
which is a company--
it\'s the maker
00:27:15.041 --> 00:27:17.291
of Crisco Oil
and Vegetable Oil,
00:27:17.291 --> 00:27:20.083
they designated
the American Heart Association
00:27:20.083 --> 00:27:23.750
as the beneficiary
of a radio contest
00:27:23.750 --> 00:27:26.291
called the Walking Men contest.
00:27:26.291 --> 00:27:27.125
And overnight,
00:27:27.125 --> 00:27:30.709
this is in the American Heart
Association official history,
00:27:30.709 --> 00:27:33.500
overnight they received
millions of dollars.
00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:35.333
So over--and there\'s
literally quotes
00:27:35.333 --> 00:27:37.375
about how
that launched them
00:27:37.375 --> 00:27:40.375
into the national association
that they are today,
00:27:40.375 --> 00:27:43.333
I mean, that they then
spread offices all over,
00:27:43.333 --> 00:27:45.792
opened chapters
all over the country.
00:27:45.792 --> 00:27:49.208
And that was, you know,
money poured in.
00:27:49.208 --> 00:27:50.667
I mean, those are
the literally the words
00:27:50.667 --> 00:27:55.166
in its own official story.
00:27:55.166 --> 00:27:56.208
And then,
subsequently,
00:27:56.208 --> 00:27:59.125
the American Heart Association
started to say
00:27:59.125 --> 00:28:02.583
that you should
replace saturated fats
00:28:02.583 --> 00:28:04.000
with polyunsaturated fats,
00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:05.959
which are vegetable oils,
which was, you know,
00:28:05.959 --> 00:28:11.291
a tremendous endorsement
to a product like Crisco Oil.
00:28:11.291 --> 00:28:14.500
Betsy Jenkins\' pie
wins first prize?
00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:15.625
But it\'s upside down.
00:28:15.625 --> 00:28:18.667
Had to show off
my flaky bottom crust.
00:28:18.667 --> 00:28:20.500
Bottom crust?
00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:21.208
Flaky?
00:28:21.208 --> 00:28:22.208
Impossible.
00:28:22.208 --> 00:28:22.875
Not with Crisco.
00:28:22.875 --> 00:28:25.792
Crisco\'s the shortening
that blends in easy.
00:28:25.792 --> 00:28:27.500
The American Heart Association,
00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:32.208
their role became not
as it initially had been
00:28:32.208 --> 00:28:34.500
to raise money for research
00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:36.166
into heart disease,
00:28:36.166 --> 00:28:40.500
but to raise a consciousness
of heart disease,
00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:44.709
which meant scaring people
about heart disease
00:28:44.709 --> 00:28:45.709
so that they would give money
00:28:45.709 --> 00:28:47.250
to the American
Heart Association
00:28:47.250 --> 00:28:50.250
so they could spend more money
on scaring people
00:28:50.250 --> 00:28:51.166
about heart disease.
00:28:51.166 --> 00:28:55.208
And at the same time
give themselves
00:28:55.208 --> 00:28:58.417
nice cushy jobs.
00:28:58.417 --> 00:28:58.875
♪
00:28:58.875 --> 00:29:00.542
Several theories exist
that dispute
00:29:00.542 --> 00:29:02.500
the overwhelming
cholesterol theory.
00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:04.208
Kilmer McCully
discovered some cases
00:29:04.208 --> 00:29:07.000
of very young children
who died of heart attacks.
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.083
Having suffered from
a rare genetic defect,
00:29:09.083 --> 00:29:11.959
they were not able to regulate
their vitamin B intake,
00:29:11.959 --> 00:29:14.250
which led to an excessive
quantity of a substance
00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.917
called homocysteine
within their bodies.
00:29:16.917 --> 00:29:18.709
McCully came up
with the hypothesis
00:29:18.709 --> 00:29:20.667
that the plaques
in the arteries grew bigger
00:29:20.667 --> 00:29:23.250
while there was
an excess of this substance.
00:29:23.250 --> 00:29:26.959
I began to do experiments
with animals.
00:29:26.959 --> 00:29:30.792
And what we did
was first we injected
00:29:30.792 --> 00:29:33.000
homocysteine into rabbits
00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:35.291
and then we looked
at the arteries.
00:29:35.291 --> 00:29:37.750
And we found that within
two or three weeks
00:29:37.750 --> 00:29:39.875
we could see plaques
in the arteries.
00:29:39.875 --> 00:29:43.583
Well, I can\'t tell you how
exciting it was
00:29:43.583 --> 00:29:46.542
to see the plaques
in the arteries.
00:29:46.542 --> 00:29:49.625
I mean, to have a theory
00:29:49.625 --> 00:29:51.500
and to try it out
in animals
00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:56.250
and then to see it
with your own eyes is...
00:29:57.333 --> 00:30:00.542
...it\'s indescribable.
00:30:07.999 --> 00:30:11.417
When I published
my first article in 1969
00:30:11.417 --> 00:30:13.999
about this observation
in children
00:30:13.999 --> 00:30:15.542
of the homocystinuria,
00:30:15.542 --> 00:30:20.917
I was amazed that I received
over 400 reprint requests.
00:30:20.917 --> 00:30:24.250
And I was very careful
what I said.
00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:27.667
And what I said was I felt
that the changes produced
00:30:27.667 --> 00:30:30.792
by homocysteine
were the primary changes
00:30:30.792 --> 00:30:34.709
and the deposition
of cholesterol and fats
00:30:34.709 --> 00:30:38.083
in the lesions was likely
to be secondary.
00:30:38.083 --> 00:30:44.250
And so this did not go well
with the cholesterol people.
00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:45.333
(laughs)
00:30:45.333 --> 00:30:46.125
♪
00:30:46.125 --> 00:30:52.166
And I wasn\'t really prepared
for what happened next.
00:30:52.166 --> 00:30:54.291
♪
00:30:54.291 --> 00:30:56.000
The first thing that happened,
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.458
I was put down in the basement,
00:30:58.458 --> 00:31:01.333
down with the spiders
and the cockroaches
00:31:01.333 --> 00:31:03.667
in the basement of
the Bulfinch Building,
00:31:03.667 --> 00:31:05.500
which was built in 1811.
00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:10.291
So here I was in a windowless,
inadequate laboratory,
00:31:10.291 --> 00:31:15.333
and my colleagues
saw the handwriting on the wall
00:31:15.333 --> 00:31:16.917
and were leaving
and I was left
00:31:16.917 --> 00:31:19.500
with one technician
and myself.
00:31:19.500 --> 00:31:23.166
And they said, \"Well,
you have to renew your grant
00:31:23.166 --> 00:31:26.000
or we can\'t support
your salary,
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.000
you have to leave.\"
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:29.834
And I still remember
getting a call
00:31:29.834 --> 00:31:32.375
from the Director
of Public Relations
00:31:32.375 --> 00:31:34.458
as Massachusetts
General Hospital.
00:31:34.458 --> 00:31:38.583
He told me to just shut up
and that I didn\'t--
00:31:38.583 --> 00:31:41.000
he didn\'t want
the name McCully
00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.000
associated
with the name Harvard
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:44.792
or Massachusetts
General Hospital
00:31:44.792 --> 00:31:47.917
at any time
in the future.
00:31:48.875 --> 00:31:52.250
And I told my wife
at the time that
00:31:52.250 --> 00:31:55.166
if there was something wrong
with the theory,
00:31:55.166 --> 00:31:56.667
if this was nonsense,
00:31:56.667 --> 00:31:59.750
if there was nothing
to this theory,
00:31:59.750 --> 00:32:01.875
nobody would care.
00:32:01.875 --> 00:32:03.999
The only reason
that people cared
00:32:03.999 --> 00:32:05.667
was there was a threat
to somebody
00:32:05.667 --> 00:32:09.166
or there was
some important factors
00:32:09.166 --> 00:32:12.834
that I didn\'t understand
that was causing this--
00:32:12.834 --> 00:32:16.625
this blackballing
that happened to me.
00:32:16.625 --> 00:32:24.417
♪
00:32:24.583 --> 00:32:25.667
Our Segment 3 this evening,
00:32:25.667 --> 00:32:28.500
the second in a series
on heart attacks
00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:29.583
and what causes them.
00:32:29.583 --> 00:32:31.999
The Japanese have
a low heart attack rate.
00:32:31.999 --> 00:32:36.834
Their diet contains little
animal fat or cholesterol.
00:32:37.458 --> 00:32:39.542
Americans get
many more heart attacks
00:32:39.542 --> 00:32:41.542
and they eat
much more cholesterol.
00:32:41.542 --> 00:32:43.875
Such comparisons
first convinced many doctors
00:32:43.875 --> 00:32:46.917
that Americans should change
their eating habits.
00:32:46.917 --> 00:32:49.542
Dr. George Mann,
a veteran heart researcher,
00:32:49.542 --> 00:32:52.792
says diet has nothing to do
with heart disease.
00:32:52.792 --> 00:32:54.625
Dr. Mann points
to his own studies
00:32:54.625 --> 00:32:57.166
with the Maasai tribe
of Tanzania.
00:32:57.166 --> 00:32:58.750
Dr. Mann thinks
part of the reason
00:32:58.750 --> 00:33:02.041
is that the Maasai
get a lot of exercise.
00:33:02.041 --> 00:33:03.875
The reason that
there is no evidence
00:33:03.875 --> 00:33:06.583
on the exercise issue
is because we\'ve spent
00:33:06.583 --> 00:33:10.166
our money and our time
and our people
00:33:10.166 --> 00:33:15.291
belaboring this ailing
diet-heart hypothesis.
00:33:15.291 --> 00:33:16.500
George Mann would go,
00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:18.375
yeah, you could go to Kenya
00:33:18.375 --> 00:33:21.834
and study the warrior class
of the Maasai
00:33:21.834 --> 00:33:26.291
that lived primarily
on milk and blood and meat
00:33:26.291 --> 00:33:27.250
from the cattle
they herded,
00:33:27.250 --> 00:33:30.291
and this was an extraordinarily
high saturated fat diet
00:33:30.291 --> 00:33:33.375
and they didn\'t seem
to get heart disease.
00:33:33.375 --> 00:33:34.375
Yeah, high cholesterol,
00:33:34.375 --> 00:33:36.125
but they didn\'t seem
to get heart disease.
00:33:36.125 --> 00:33:39.458
He was bitter
about his experiences.
00:33:39.458 --> 00:33:40.792
I mean, one of his stories,
00:33:40.792 --> 00:33:43.083
which doesn\'t surprise me
because I\'ve heard
00:33:43.083 --> 00:33:44.250
this same story
from other,
00:33:44.250 --> 00:33:46.959
in some form or another,
from other researchers,
00:33:46.959 --> 00:33:49.959
was that he was in NIH
00:33:49.959 --> 00:33:50.834
and that NIH, you know,
00:33:50.834 --> 00:33:54.750
where he had been a researcher,
prestigious position,
00:33:54.750 --> 00:33:57.375
and a secretary called him out
into the hall and said,
00:33:57.375 --> 00:34:00.542
\"Dr. Mann, if you continue
your opposition to Ancel Keys,
00:34:00.542 --> 00:34:03.583
it\'s gonna cost you
your research grant.\"
00:34:03.583 --> 00:34:06.375
And shortly after, it did.
00:34:06.375 --> 00:34:08.917
He became more vocal
about what he called
00:34:08.917 --> 00:34:10.375
\"the diet-heart mafia.\"
00:34:10.375 --> 00:34:12.125
You know, the group of people,
00:34:12.125 --> 00:34:14.125
Ancel Keys,
Jeremiah Stamler,
00:34:14.125 --> 00:34:15.208
Ivan Frantz,
you know,
00:34:15.208 --> 00:34:18.583
there just was a small
kind of coterie of experts
00:34:18.583 --> 00:34:21.375
who seemed to control
the whole agenda
00:34:21.375 --> 00:34:22.625
in nutrition science.
00:34:22.625 --> 00:34:23.583
They were the ones
00:34:23.583 --> 00:34:25.709
who were in command
of the major studies,
00:34:25.709 --> 00:34:28.625
they sat on the expert panels
at NIH,
00:34:28.625 --> 00:34:30.709
they were the ones
who granted research funds,
00:34:30.709 --> 00:34:33.792
they did the research, they sat
on the major editorial boards
00:34:33.792 --> 00:34:36.417
of the major journals, they
reviewed each other\'s papers.
00:34:36.417 --> 00:34:39.834
I mean, they seemed to be,
to George Mann,
00:34:39.834 --> 00:34:41.375
a kind of mafia.
00:34:41.375 --> 00:34:44.792
♪
00:35:00.291 --> 00:35:02.500
Researchers noted that
the introduction of sugar
00:35:02.500 --> 00:35:06.583
into an indigenous populations
provoked heart diseases
00:35:06.583 --> 00:35:08.166
that had been
hitherto unseen.
00:35:08.166 --> 00:35:09.959
Cristin Kearns
had recently unearthed
00:35:09.959 --> 00:35:12.250
some confidential
internal documents
00:35:12.250 --> 00:35:14.250
from the sugar industry
which proved
00:35:14.250 --> 00:35:17.417
that this industry
subsidized research
00:35:17.417 --> 00:35:19.125
from the 1960s onwards
00:35:19.125 --> 00:35:20.709
to divert attention away
from sugar
00:35:20.709 --> 00:35:24.500
and make cholesterol solely
responsible for heart disease.
00:35:24.500 --> 00:35:27.625
John Yudkin
was a British physiologist
00:35:27.625 --> 00:35:32.166
who became very concerned
about the connections
00:35:32.166 --> 00:35:35.834
between sugar consumption
and heart disease.
00:35:35.834 --> 00:35:39.041
And he really became
a spokesperson
00:35:39.041 --> 00:35:40.375
that gained attention
in the media,
00:35:40.375 --> 00:35:41.750
that gained
the public\'s attention
00:35:41.750 --> 00:35:45.667
about the potential dangers
of sugar and heart disease.
00:35:45.667 --> 00:35:50.792
So, in 1964 the sugar industry
became really concerned
00:35:50.792 --> 00:35:52.500
about the evidence
that was emerging
00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:54.083
linking sugar
to heart disease.
00:35:54.083 --> 00:35:57.709
So John Hickson, who was
the Sugar Research Foundation\'s
00:35:57.709 --> 00:36:00.166
Vice President of Research,
00:36:00.166 --> 00:36:02.834
commented that there were
flowing reports
00:36:02.834 --> 00:36:05.375
from laboratories,
such as Yudkin\'s,
00:36:05.375 --> 00:36:07.542
linking sugar
to heart disease,
00:36:07.542 --> 00:36:11.750
and that they needed to come up
with a plan of action.
00:36:11.750 --> 00:36:14.458
(typing)
00:36:16.917 --> 00:36:20.250
In 1965, a series of articles
that was published
00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:21.959
in theAnnals
of Internal Medicine
00:36:21.959 --> 00:36:24.834
was written up in
theNew York Herald Tribune,
00:36:24.834 --> 00:36:26.083
which was
a major competitor
00:36:26.083 --> 00:36:28.000
ofThe New York Times
at the time.
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:32.792
It got a full page article
in the Sunday edition.
00:36:32.792 --> 00:36:36.333
And the newspaper article
was questioning
00:36:36.333 --> 00:36:39.542
whether it really was fat that
was linked to heart disease
00:36:39.542 --> 00:36:43.083
or was it sugar that
was linked to heart disease.
00:36:43.083 --> 00:36:44.834
And the article
went on to say
00:36:44.834 --> 00:36:46.375
this link between sugar
and heart disease
00:36:46.375 --> 00:36:49.583
had been theoretical
up until this point,
00:36:49.583 --> 00:36:52.458
but this new evidence
was really strengthening
00:36:52.458 --> 00:36:55.208
that link between sugar
and heart disease.
00:36:55.208 --> 00:36:58.458
So as soon
as that article came out,
00:36:58.458 --> 00:37:01.999
within a couple of days
the sugar executives
00:37:01.999 --> 00:37:06.208
committed funding
for Project 226.
00:37:07.291 --> 00:37:11.125
That was a commissioned
literature review.
00:37:11.125 --> 00:37:13.041
And the industry
was interested
00:37:13.041 --> 00:37:16.542
in having researchers
at Harvard
00:37:16.542 --> 00:37:19.834
to collect
the evidence
00:37:19.834 --> 00:37:21.291
linking sugar
to heart disease
00:37:21.291 --> 00:37:24.000
and to publish a review
that would critique
00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:27.375
all of that evidence
to make it less likely
00:37:27.375 --> 00:37:30.375
that policy makers would
consider that evidence
00:37:30.375 --> 00:37:31.917
when they were looking
at the links
00:37:31.917 --> 00:37:34.333
between sugar and disease.
00:37:35.834 --> 00:37:40.792
So here they\'re corresponding
about the drafts of the paper.
00:37:40.792 --> 00:37:42.542
And Hickson
at the sugar industry
00:37:42.542 --> 00:37:46.625
wrote to Hegsted saying he\'d
expected to see a draft by now
00:37:46.625 --> 00:37:49.333
and was wondering why it had
been delayed and is saying,
00:37:49.333 --> 00:37:51.917
\"I hope you will find it
possible to let me have a copy
00:37:51.917 --> 00:37:55.291
of the draft of the manuscript
at an early date,\"
00:37:55.291 --> 00:37:58.250
so that he can complete
his obligations.
00:37:58.250 --> 00:37:59.625
This is a letter
from Hixon
00:37:59.625 --> 00:38:01.417
at the Sugar
Research Foundation
00:38:01.417 --> 00:38:02.959
to Hegsted saying,
00:38:02.959 --> 00:38:05.709
\"Thank you very much for
the draft of the manuscript.
00:38:05.709 --> 00:38:08.083
Let me assure you this is
quite what we had in mind
00:38:08.083 --> 00:38:10.500
and we look forward to its
appearance in print.\"
00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:14.500
They\'re really focused on
does sugar cause heart disease,
00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:18.458
and they reviewed
an enormous number of studies
00:38:18.458 --> 00:38:23.417
and picked apart
every study one by one
00:38:23.417 --> 00:38:26.959
and pointed out
some sort of flaw.
00:38:27.542 --> 00:38:28.458
The published article
00:38:28.458 --> 00:38:30.041
did not mention
any funding
00:38:30.041 --> 00:38:32.250
from the Sugar
Research Foundation.
00:38:32.250 --> 00:38:35.125
So here we have
Harvard researchers,
00:38:35.125 --> 00:38:36.667
we have
the highly prestigious
00:38:36.667 --> 00:38:38.959
New England
Journal of Medicine.
00:38:38.959 --> 00:38:40.750
The sugar industry
could not have found
00:38:40.750 --> 00:38:46.959
a more credible avenue
to get their message out.
00:39:09.083 --> 00:39:10.625
So this is from testimony
00:39:10.625 --> 00:39:13.125
related to
the McGovern committee
00:39:13.125 --> 00:39:14.709
in the \'70s.
00:39:14.709 --> 00:39:15.999
Senator McGovern says,
00:39:15.999 --> 00:39:18.542
\"I\'m under the impression
that most doctors
00:39:18.542 --> 00:39:20.999
still are treating
a high cholesterol count
00:39:20.999 --> 00:39:22.917
by calling for
a sharp reduction
00:39:22.917 --> 00:39:24.999
in dairy product intakes
and fats
00:39:24.999 --> 00:39:27.458
with very little emphasis
on sugar.
00:39:27.458 --> 00:39:30.125
I take it your view is that
the high sugar intake
00:39:30.125 --> 00:39:33.709
is more significant
than the fat intake?\"
00:39:33.709 --> 00:39:34.875
And Dr. Yudkin replied,
00:39:34.875 --> 00:39:38.083
\"Yes, sir, I certainly
believe that.
00:39:38.083 --> 00:39:39.875
I think that
we were misled.
00:39:39.875 --> 00:39:42.500
I think that we have
been pushed into a pathway
00:39:42.500 --> 00:39:44.458
that will turn out
to be a cul-de-sac
00:39:44.458 --> 00:39:47.041
by concentrating our efforts
and our research
00:39:47.041 --> 00:39:48.999
on measuring
cholesterol level.
00:39:48.999 --> 00:39:51.792
I think this is
only a small part,
00:39:51.792 --> 00:39:52.583
if a part at all,
00:39:52.583 --> 00:39:54.999
of the coronary
heart disease story.\"
00:39:54.999 --> 00:39:56.792
Senator McGovern replied,
00:39:56.792 --> 00:39:58.875
\"If you had a patient
where you detected
00:39:58.875 --> 00:40:00.166
a high cholesterol count,
00:40:00.166 --> 00:40:02.041
would you be more likely
to prescribe
00:40:02.041 --> 00:40:03.291
reducing the sugar intake
00:40:03.291 --> 00:40:05.375
than reducing
the fat intake?\"
00:40:05.375 --> 00:40:07.709
Dr. Yudkin said,
\"That\'s right.
00:40:07.709 --> 00:40:08.917
Yes, certainly I would.\"
00:40:08.917 --> 00:40:12.000
Senator McGovern,
\"That is exactly the opposite
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:14.667
of what my doctor told me.\"
00:40:14.667 --> 00:40:17.250
♪
00:40:17.250 --> 00:40:18.750
In order
to definitively prove
00:40:18.750 --> 00:40:21.291
the role played by cholesterol
in heart disease,
00:40:21.291 --> 00:40:24.208
despite the skepticism
of many scientists,
00:40:24.208 --> 00:40:26.417
the National Institutes
of Health
00:40:26.417 --> 00:40:29.500
launched the LRC in 1977,
00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:30.542
which involved
a clinical study
00:40:30.542 --> 00:40:33.834
of 3,800 men with
high cholesterol levels.
00:40:33.834 --> 00:40:36.208
One group was fed a diet
low in cholesterol
00:40:36.208 --> 00:40:38.333
and received the drug
Cholestyramine,
00:40:38.333 --> 00:40:41.709
which reduces cholesterol levels
in the blood.
00:40:41.709 --> 00:40:46.166
♪
00:41:03.083 --> 00:41:07.000
So it\'s very interesting because
you have this very narrow--
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:08.000
narrowly focused point of fact,
00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:13.000
which is middle aged men able
to keep a rigorous discipline
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:14.917
of consuming
a particularly noxious drug
00:41:14.917 --> 00:41:18.208
find a very slim reduction
in cardiovascular disease.
00:41:18.208 --> 00:41:21.709
And what\'s actually published
out of the study
00:41:21.709 --> 00:41:23.500
is a much, much broader
conclusion
00:41:23.500 --> 00:41:26.417
that reducing cholesterol
will do good things
00:41:26.417 --> 00:41:27.375
for the American population
00:41:27.375 --> 00:41:29.083
and that--not only for this
group of people,
00:41:29.083 --> 00:41:32.875
but for anybody, really,
over the age of two.
00:42:46.375 --> 00:42:48.291
♪
00:45:15.750 --> 00:45:18.375
The government did
several studies
00:45:18.375 --> 00:45:22.250
and even after
these studies came out,
00:45:22.250 --> 00:45:24.542
in which
they purported to show
00:45:24.542 --> 00:45:26.291
that cholesterol
caused heart disease,
00:45:26.291 --> 00:45:29.166
there were many people
who were dissenting,
00:45:29.166 --> 00:45:31.250
many scientists
who didn\'t agree,
00:45:31.250 --> 00:45:32.750
who were very angry.
00:45:32.750 --> 00:45:33.875
So they had
what was called
00:45:33.875 --> 00:45:35.834
the Cholesterol
Consensus Conference
00:45:35.834 --> 00:45:39.999
and they invited
all the dissenters to speak.
00:45:39.999 --> 00:45:41.667
And they were allowed
to speak,
00:45:41.667 --> 00:45:43.999
but their views
were not published
00:45:43.999 --> 00:45:45.458
in the final report.
00:45:45.458 --> 00:45:46.792
Their names were there,
00:45:46.792 --> 00:45:48.333
but the views
were not published.
00:45:48.333 --> 00:45:51.417
So the final report
made it look
00:45:51.417 --> 00:45:56.750
as though all the dissenters
had finally seen the light
00:45:56.750 --> 00:45:57.375
and they agreed,
00:45:57.375 --> 00:46:00.041
\"Yes, the cholesterol
and saturated fat
00:46:00.041 --> 00:46:01.208
are the bad guys.\"
00:46:01.208 --> 00:46:02.583
-Oh, I\'m worried.
-Why, honey?
00:46:02.583 --> 00:46:04.500
Those hunters haven\'t been
around here in months.
00:46:04.500 --> 00:46:07.291
No, I\'m worried about
your cholesterol level.
00:46:07.291 --> 00:46:09.375
I don\'t want you
to have a heart attack.
00:46:09.375 --> 00:46:10.875
But, honey, I\'m a duck.
00:46:10.875 --> 00:46:12.417
Heredity is only part of it.
00:46:12.417 --> 00:46:14.166
You\'ve also got to watch
what you eat,
00:46:14.166 --> 00:46:16.000
like not stuffing yourself
with foods
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.333
high in saturated fats
and cholesterol.
00:46:18.333 --> 00:46:22.166
Watch what you eat as
if your life depended on it.
00:46:22.166 --> 00:46:23.667
It does.
00:46:23.667 --> 00:46:26.166
And what comes out of this
initial Consensus Conference
00:46:26.166 --> 00:46:27.875
is the founding
of a program called
00:46:27.875 --> 00:46:30.250
the National Cholesterol
Education Program.
00:46:30.250 --> 00:46:34.166
That that awareness campaign
needs to be mobilized
00:46:34.166 --> 00:46:36.875
along at least
two different groups,
00:46:36.875 --> 00:46:38.917
one of them being
health professionals,
00:46:38.917 --> 00:46:42.208
principally physicians
but also nurses,
00:46:42.208 --> 00:46:43.917
pharmacists,
public health officials.
00:46:43.917 --> 00:46:46.000
And then the second
being the general public.
00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:49.750
So that on the one hand
there should be more screening
00:46:49.750 --> 00:46:51.834
of cholesterol
happening in clinics
00:46:51.834 --> 00:46:54.375
to find pathologically
high cholesterol,
00:46:54.375 --> 00:46:55.834
on the other hand
there should be
00:46:55.834 --> 00:47:00.458
a broader sensibility
that the everyday American
00:47:00.458 --> 00:47:02.250
would know something
about cholesterol,
00:47:02.250 --> 00:47:03.709
would know
their own cholesterol,
00:47:03.709 --> 00:47:05.375
would think that this
number of cholesterol
00:47:05.375 --> 00:47:08.625
was something that
they should identify with
00:47:08.625 --> 00:47:11.125
as part of
their health status.
00:47:38.291 --> 00:47:42.000
Today, the Nobel Prize
for Medicine went to two men.
00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:44.583
Doctors Michael Brown
and Joseph Goldstein
00:47:44.583 --> 00:47:46.000
learned they were winners
00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:47.000
while attending a conference
00:47:47.000 --> 00:47:49.917
at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
00:47:49.917 --> 00:47:52.834
Working together since 1972,
00:47:52.834 --> 00:47:53.917
the molecular geneticists
00:47:53.917 --> 00:47:56.041
discovered that cells
in the body
00:47:56.041 --> 00:47:59.333
have receptors
which capture fatty cholesterol
00:47:59.333 --> 00:48:00.125
in the blood.
00:48:00.125 --> 00:48:01.875
The receptors move
the cholesterol
00:48:01.875 --> 00:48:04.875
to a site which acts like
a garbage disposal
00:48:04.875 --> 00:48:08.000
before the cholesterol
builds up and blocks an artery.
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.959
The researchers made
their breakthrough
00:48:09.959 --> 00:48:11.875
studying patients
like Stormy Jones
00:48:11.875 --> 00:48:15.291
who had a heart attack
when she was just six.
00:48:15.291 --> 00:48:17.667
Stormy suffers
from a genetic disease
00:48:17.667 --> 00:48:21.083
which causes a shortage
of receptors.
00:49:02.458 --> 00:49:05.041
(heart beating)
00:49:05.041 --> 00:49:05.542
Sir.
00:49:05.542 --> 00:49:08.458
We have an obstruction in one
of the main arteries.
00:49:08.458 --> 00:49:11.583
♪
00:49:11.583 --> 00:49:13.333
Who are they?
00:49:13.333 --> 00:49:15.166
I have a lead on the suspect.
00:49:15.166 --> 00:49:16.500
He goes by Big Fat Paulie,
00:49:16.500 --> 00:49:19.125
aka LDL
aka Bad Cholesterol.
00:49:19.125 --> 00:49:21.458
He\'s the leader
of the Cholesterol Gang.
00:49:21.458 --> 00:49:22.709
They\'re not outsiders.
00:49:22.709 --> 00:49:23.999
They grow in the body.
00:49:23.999 --> 00:49:25.250
But when there are too many,
00:49:25.250 --> 00:49:26.208
they block the blood vessels
00:49:26.208 --> 00:49:29.417
from delivering necessary
oxygen to the heart.
00:49:29.417 --> 00:49:30.458
♪
00:49:30.458 --> 00:49:31.333
Should we talk to him?
00:49:31.333 --> 00:49:36.583
We don\'t negotiate
with bad cholesterol.
00:53:35.041 --> 00:53:37.667
(applause)
00:53:37.667 --> 00:53:45.709
♪
00:53:45.709 --> 00:53:49.959
In 1980, a Japanese researcher
discovered a substance
00:53:49.959 --> 00:53:51.834
that lowered levels of LDL,
00:53:51.834 --> 00:53:53.875
the so-called
bad cholesterol.
00:53:53.875 --> 00:53:55.959
That marked the birth
of a new class of drug,
00:53:55.959 --> 00:53:59.000
statins, which inhibit
the body\'s ability
00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:00.125
to produce cholesterol.
00:54:00.125 --> 00:54:02.375
Statins became
the most prescribed drug
00:54:02.375 --> 00:54:03.750
after the turn
of the century,
00:54:03.750 --> 00:54:06.291
220 million people
around the world
00:54:06.291 --> 00:54:08.709
take prescriptions
of them.
00:54:08.709 --> 00:54:10.625
♪
00:56:04.125 --> 00:56:09.709
So with 85% of our clinical
trials commercially funded,
00:56:09.709 --> 00:56:14.458
and now 97% of the most
influential clinical trials
00:56:14.458 --> 00:56:16.291
commercially funded,
00:56:16.291 --> 00:56:17.583
what we find
is that the odds
00:56:17.583 --> 00:56:20.750
are more than
five times greater
00:56:20.750 --> 00:56:22.417
that commercially funded trials
00:56:22.417 --> 00:56:24.583
will conclude
that the sponsor\'s drug
00:56:24.583 --> 00:56:25.542
is the treatment of choice
00:56:25.542 --> 00:56:28.041
compared to non-commercially
funded trials
00:56:28.041 --> 00:56:30.792
of exactly the same drugs.
00:56:31.542 --> 00:56:32.500
Those are pretty good odds.
00:56:32.500 --> 00:56:36.792
And, you know, we tend to think
of scientific studies
00:56:36.792 --> 00:56:41.542
as being objective
and not being subject to bias.
00:56:41.542 --> 00:56:43.750
But what we find
when we look
00:56:43.750 --> 00:56:48.500
at the way the system
is structured,
00:56:48.500 --> 00:56:51.917
the companies
sponsor the trials
00:56:51.917 --> 00:56:53.875
to help to sell
their drugs.
00:56:53.875 --> 00:56:55.709
The companies
own the data
00:56:55.709 --> 00:56:58.542
the same way that
the Coca-Cola Company
00:56:58.542 --> 00:57:00.875
owns the recipe for Coke.
00:58:27.667 --> 00:58:30.458
(dishes clattering)
00:58:30.458 --> 00:58:33.750
♪
01:00:25.709 --> 01:00:27.999
♪
01:00:27.999 --> 01:00:29.959
In 2004, a scandal broke out
01:00:29.959 --> 01:00:32.083
over the anti-inflammatory
Vioxx,
01:00:32.083 --> 01:00:34.417
which caused the deaths
of 30,000 people
01:00:34.417 --> 01:00:35.667
in the United States.
01:00:35.667 --> 01:00:36.625
The legal system
uncovered
01:00:36.625 --> 01:00:37.999
that the laboratory
was aware
01:00:37.999 --> 01:00:40.000
of the potentially fatal
effects of its drugs
01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:43.333
and had deliberately
hidden them.
01:00:43.333 --> 01:00:44.583
♪
01:01:45.542 --> 01:01:47.417
♪
01:01:47.417 --> 01:01:50.500
Nor the doubts regarding
the initial studies on statins
01:01:50.500 --> 01:01:53.792
nor the impossibility of
reproducing positive results
01:01:53.792 --> 01:01:57.041
could impede the
anti-cholesterol obsession.
01:01:57.041 --> 01:01:57.875
The dogma remained.
01:01:57.875 --> 01:02:01.709
The lower the levels,
the better.
01:03:28.709 --> 01:03:29.458
♪
01:03:29.458 --> 01:03:30.667
Now medical information
comes along
01:03:30.667 --> 01:03:35.083
that says you may need to get
that bad cholesterol even lower.
01:03:35.083 --> 01:03:35.959
♪
01:03:35.959 --> 01:03:36.834
Now what do you do?
01:03:36.834 --> 01:03:39.417
Well, if your doctor says
aim lower,
01:03:39.417 --> 01:03:40.166
ask about Crestor.
01:03:40.166 --> 01:03:43.333
Crestor along with diet
can lower bad cholesterol
01:03:43.333 --> 01:03:44.834
by up to 52%.
01:03:44.834 --> 01:03:46.250
In the cholesterol guidelines,
01:03:46.250 --> 01:03:50.834
the last major revision
was in 2001
01:03:50.834 --> 01:03:53.125
in the American
cholesterol guidelines.
01:03:53.125 --> 01:03:55.417
Nine out of fourteen
of the experts
01:03:55.417 --> 01:03:58.750
who were on the panel
that set the standards
01:03:58.750 --> 01:04:00.999
had financial ties
to the drug companies.
01:04:00.999 --> 01:04:06.333
Now this is very important
because the 2001 guidelines
01:04:06.333 --> 01:04:08.458
almost tripled
the number of Americans
01:04:08.458 --> 01:04:10.667
for whom statin therapy
was recommended.
01:04:10.667 --> 01:04:13.999
The number went from
13 million to 36 million.
01:04:13.999 --> 01:04:17.333
And most of the 23 million
people for whom statins
01:04:17.333 --> 01:04:20.125
became recommended
based on those guidelines
01:04:20.125 --> 01:04:21.709
did not yet
have heart disease.
01:04:21.709 --> 01:04:23.583
You know, it\'s an odd paradox,
right?
01:04:23.583 --> 01:04:24.875
I\'d like to take a moment
01:04:24.875 --> 01:04:26.166
to think about
these terms we use
01:04:26.166 --> 01:04:29.458
when we talk about normal
and pathological, right?
01:04:29.458 --> 01:04:30.999
If something\'s pathological,
01:04:30.999 --> 01:04:32.500
there\'s clearly
a disease there,
01:04:32.500 --> 01:04:35.166
and this is easy when
you\'re dealing with something
01:04:35.166 --> 01:04:36.750
like cholera
or tuberculosis.
01:04:36.750 --> 01:04:39.999
It\'s characteristic lesions
or complexes
01:04:39.999 --> 01:04:41.208
or germs that can be grown.
01:04:41.208 --> 01:04:43.709
It\'s harder when you\'re
dealing with this continuum
01:04:43.709 --> 01:04:46.542
of some degree of fatty plaques
being on pretty much
01:04:46.542 --> 01:04:49.500
every adult\'s inside
of their blood vessels
01:04:49.500 --> 01:04:51.125
by the time they\'re over
the age of 40.
01:04:51.125 --> 01:04:54.709
There\'s a big reason
to lower high cholesterol.
01:04:54.709 --> 01:04:57.792
Dangerous plaque that can
build up in arteries.
01:04:57.792 --> 01:05:00.709
It\'s called atherosclerosis,
or athero,
01:05:00.709 --> 01:05:03.166
and high cholesterol
is a major factor.
01:05:03.166 --> 01:05:05.792
But Crestor can help slow
the buildup
01:05:05.792 --> 01:05:06.917
of plaque in arteries.
01:05:06.917 --> 01:05:10.375
Go to ArteryTour.com
and take an interactive tour
01:05:10.375 --> 01:05:13.208
to learn how plaque builds up.
01:06:58.291 --> 01:07:02.792
By the late \'90s,
many cardiologists will say,
01:07:02.792 --> 01:07:04.041
only half-jokingly,
01:07:04.041 --> 01:07:06.417
that stains really should be
added to the drinking water.
01:07:06.417 --> 01:07:10.000
And it\'s a half-joke in that
it\'s intended to be funny,
01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:11.750
and sometimes
it produces a laugh,
01:07:11.750 --> 01:07:15.125
but behind it is
this earnest sensibility
01:07:15.125 --> 01:07:18.208
that this is an intervention
that is so powerful
01:07:18.208 --> 01:07:22.250
and the goal of preventing
stroke and heart disease
01:07:22.250 --> 01:07:25.125
so worthwhile
on a broad societal basis
01:07:25.125 --> 01:07:28.500
that even if some people
did develop side effects
01:07:28.500 --> 01:07:29.291
and adverse effects,
01:07:29.291 --> 01:07:30.583
that it would
still be worth it
01:07:30.583 --> 01:07:31.999
for the whole
of the U.S. population
01:07:31.999 --> 01:07:36.041
to have this overall
improvement in health.
01:09:31.291 --> 01:09:31.999
♪
01:09:31.999 --> 01:09:36.166
I\'m taking the Uncle Toby\'s Oats
Cholesterol Challenge
01:09:36.166 --> 01:09:38.083
for six weeks.
01:09:38.083 --> 01:09:40.500
♪
01:09:40.500 --> 01:09:41.834
Because eating
Uncle Toby\'s Oats
01:09:41.834 --> 01:09:43.999
every day as part
of a healthy diet
01:09:43.999 --> 01:09:47.125
can help lower
cholesterol reabsorption.
01:09:47.125 --> 01:09:47.542
♪
01:09:47.542 --> 01:09:52.250
So join me in the Uncle Toby\'s
Oats Cholesterol Challenge.
01:09:52.250 --> 01:09:54.667
Let\'s take it on!
01:09:54.667 --> 01:09:56.542
♪
01:11:08.375 --> 01:11:12.583
Certain foods are high
in saturated fat.
01:11:13.333 --> 01:11:15.667
This is the average amount
of saturated fat
01:11:15.667 --> 01:11:19.000
a person consumes in a month.
01:11:20.792 --> 01:11:22.458
If you eat too much of this,
01:11:22.458 --> 01:11:24.333
then over time
fatty deposits
01:11:24.333 --> 01:11:25.583
could build up
in your arteries
01:11:25.583 --> 01:11:29.375
and this increases your risk
of heart disease.
01:11:29.375 --> 01:11:33.625
♪
01:11:33.625 --> 01:11:36.041
If saturated fat
can clog this pipe,
01:11:36.041 --> 01:11:39.625
imagine what it\'s
doing to yours.
01:13:05.917 --> 01:13:08.625
After ten years of the mass
prescription of statins,
01:13:08.625 --> 01:13:11.583
thousands of patients complained
of serious side effects,
01:13:11.583 --> 01:13:13.000
to the point where
in the United States
01:13:13.000 --> 01:13:16.500
law firms started offering
their services on television
01:13:16.500 --> 01:13:19.250
to defend these patients.
01:14:08.166 --> 01:14:10.709
We published a case series
of 171 people
01:14:10.709 --> 01:14:13.417
with cognitive adverse effects
on statins
01:14:13.417 --> 01:14:19.166
and some of these
are quite compelling
01:14:19.166 --> 01:14:21.041
and troubling cases.
01:14:21.041 --> 01:14:25.917
There was one individual
who was a retired professor
01:14:25.917 --> 01:14:27.959
in multiple
different departments
01:14:27.959 --> 01:14:29.875
with a reported IQ
of over 180
01:14:29.875 --> 01:14:33.291
who had actually been identified
by two academic institutions
01:14:33.291 --> 01:14:35.417
as having the rapidly
progressive form
01:14:35.417 --> 01:14:36.458
of Alzheimer\'s disease.
01:14:36.458 --> 01:14:40.000
And he actually went
to a 50 year school reunion
01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:41.750
with a sign around
his neck saying,
01:14:41.750 --> 01:14:44.000
\"My name is,
I have Alzheimer\'s,\"
01:14:44.000 --> 01:14:45.000
so that people
would understand
01:14:45.000 --> 01:14:46.458
why he would repeat
the same sentence
01:14:46.458 --> 01:14:48.208
again and again
and wouldn\'t know people,
01:14:48.208 --> 01:14:51.000
wouldn\'t recognize people
he\'d known closely for decades.
01:14:51.000 --> 01:14:52.458
He also couldn\'t read
more than a page of text
01:14:52.458 --> 01:14:54.917
because he wouldn\'t remember
what he\'d read.
01:14:54.917 --> 01:14:58.166
And then his wife decided
to stop his simvastatin
01:14:58.166 --> 01:15:02.417
and he appeared to screen
for an experimental drug trial
01:15:02.417 --> 01:15:05.625
for Alzheimer\'s
at another university.
01:15:05.625 --> 01:15:06.999
And they re-assessed him
and they said,
01:15:06.999 --> 01:15:08.458
\"Not only you don\'t have
Alzheimer\'s,
01:15:08.458 --> 01:15:09.458
you don\'t have dementia.\"
01:15:09.458 --> 01:15:11.792
And by his reckoning,
it was about two years
01:15:11.792 --> 01:15:13.583
before he was all the way
back to normal,
01:15:13.583 --> 01:15:15.999
but by then he was back to
reading three newspapers a day,
01:15:15.999 --> 01:15:17.709
The New York Times,
The Wall Street Journal,
01:15:17.709 --> 01:15:20.000
andWashington Postonline.
01:16:23.959 --> 01:16:25.792
Attention Women Who Use Lipitor.
01:16:25.792 --> 01:16:27.625
Stand by
for an important message.
01:16:27.625 --> 01:16:30.125
A medical study in the
Archives of Internal Medicine
01:16:30.125 --> 01:16:33.291
reported that postmenopausal
women who used Lipitor
01:16:33.291 --> 01:16:36.417
were 48% more likely
to develop diabetes
01:16:36.417 --> 01:16:37.208
than women who did not.
01:16:37.208 --> 01:16:38.875
If you or a loved one
started taking Lipitor
01:16:38.875 --> 01:16:43.041
before February 2012 and were
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes,
01:16:43.041 --> 01:16:46.625
you may be entitled
to money damages.
01:18:40.250 --> 01:18:41.542
♪
01:18:41.542 --> 01:18:44.125
(applause)
01:18:44.125 --> 01:18:54.375
♪
01:19:53.291 --> 01:19:55.250
Good morning.
You know, this is big news
01:19:55.250 --> 01:19:56.917
for people
with high cholesterol
01:19:56.917 --> 01:19:59.458
who are on statins
but have still not been able
01:19:59.458 --> 01:20:01.709
to lower their
bad cholesterol enough.
01:20:01.709 --> 01:20:02.500
This new class of drugs,
01:20:02.500 --> 01:20:04.583
it works in
an entirely different way.
01:20:04.583 --> 01:20:07.500
And the new studies show
it can lower bad cholesterol
01:20:07.500 --> 01:20:10.542
in these people
an additional 60%.
01:20:10.542 --> 01:20:11.291
That\'s huge.
01:20:11.291 --> 01:20:13.000
But the drug
isn\'t for everyone.
01:20:13.000 --> 01:20:14.709
It needs to be given
by injection
01:20:14.709 --> 01:20:15.750
every two
to four weeks
01:20:15.750 --> 01:20:19.166
and almost 30% of the people
in the study had to drop out.
01:20:19.166 --> 01:20:20.792
Bigger studies
are being done now
01:20:20.792 --> 01:20:22.166
to determine
whether these drugs
01:20:22.166 --> 01:20:23.333
truly reduce
the risk
01:20:23.333 --> 01:20:24.542
of heart attack
and stroke,
01:20:24.542 --> 01:20:25.999
which is really
what we\'re after,
01:20:25.999 --> 01:20:26.999
and whether they\'re safe.
01:20:26.999 --> 01:20:29.583
However, we\'ve been talking
to cardiologists all weekend,
01:20:29.583 --> 01:20:31.750
they\'re very excited
about these drugs,
01:20:31.750 --> 01:20:33.375
and the FDA
is expected to rule
01:20:33.375 --> 01:20:37.625
on an application for approval
later this year.
01:21:28.000 --> 01:21:36.291
♪
01:21:36.291 --> 01:21:38.333
Do you know your number?
01:21:38.333 --> 01:21:39.083
What number?
01:21:39.083 --> 01:21:40.583
Your cholesterol.
01:21:40.583 --> 01:21:41.999
I do.
01:21:41.999 --> 01:21:42.999
Uh...
01:21:42.999 --> 01:21:44.834
I had them tested forNightline.
01:21:44.834 --> 01:21:46.458
They\'re on my website.
01:21:46.458 --> 01:21:47.750
No.
01:21:47.750 --> 01:21:49.500
Don\'t have a clue.
01:21:49.500 --> 01:21:50.959
I\'m a member of a family
01:21:50.959 --> 01:21:53.250
with familial
hypercholesterolemia,
01:21:53.250 --> 01:21:57.458
so it\'s between
seven and eight.
01:21:58.792 --> 01:22:00.041
I don\'t know what it is now.
01:22:00.041 --> 01:22:02.375
My total cholesterol
is 189.
01:22:02.375 --> 01:22:05.041
I wish it were a bit higher.
01:22:08.750 --> 01:22:12.917
No, I actually do not know
my cholesterol number.
01:22:12.917 --> 01:22:15.000
One of these days.
01:22:15.000 --> 01:22:17.291
I should.
01:22:17.291 --> 01:22:18.999
Um, but I don\'t.
01:22:18.999 --> 01:22:20.625
No.
Why should I?
01:22:20.625 --> 01:22:24.291
I don\'t think that they have
any implications on my...
01:22:24.291 --> 01:22:25.625
(laughs)
01:22:32.709 --> 01:22:36.875
♪
