>Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 19:13:01 -0500
>From: "T. Colin Campbell" <tcc1@cornell.edu>
>Subject: Re: Sally Fallon/Colin Campbell
>X-Sender: tcc1@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu
>To: Guillermo Romero <romerog@Prodigy.Net.mx>
>Cc: igg@igg.com, sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, bdnow@envirolink.org
>MIME-version: 1.0
>Status: RO
>
>dear Guillermo:
>
>it seems that there is quite a stir on the Net about the China Study,
>although the following is more of a stir than it deserves.
>
>I'll limit my comment to the following, taken from Fallon's e-mail:
>
>"The authorís comments are much like my own, as delineated in my article on
>diet in China (www.WestonAPrice.org) The small number of data points,
>limited usefulness of the geographical correlations, the impossibility of
>drawing conclusions from the studyís ecological data, the elimination of
>>group-level confounding and the lack of actual income data are all cited as
>serious flaws"
>
>1. I do not know of another ecological study with more "data points", as
>she claims. There are 65 counties, 130 villages; most such ecological
>studies, at best, are only about 15-25. And then, the number of
>measurements (both dependent and independent) are limited to a handful at
>best.
>
>2. Geographic correlations can provide substantial information 1) when an
>adequate number of variables are measured, 2) when these variables are
>analyzed in reference to hypothesized dietary PATTERNS, 3) when there are
>very large differences in rates of disease and dietary intakes, 4) when the
>range of dietary experience, as for hypotheses on vegan diets, INCLUDES the
>relevant portion of the range--that is, the range which approaches
>veganism, 5) when the measurements are reliable (as within counties and
>between villages), 6) when the independent variables are sufficient in
>number and variety to describe the hypothesized dietary pattern, and 7)
>when there are opportunities to examine intake data against tissue data (so
>as to check on biological plausibility).
>
>3. I do not know what Ms. Fallon means by "group level confounding", and I
>am confident that she does not know either. It is clear that the entire
>issues of confounding and ecological fallacies go over her head.
>
>4. We do have a very large amount of socioeconomic data, although this will
>be published in China Study II by the World Health Organization, or perhaps
>Ms. Fallon would wish to challenge the credibility of that organization??
>
>Guillermo, this is why I do not choose to reply to someone's comments that
>so clearly demonstrate so much ignorance yet so much arrogance. It is a
>waste of time.
>
>I am copying this to Ms. Fallon, thus she might be advised that it is
>'mortality' not 'mortally'. The latter sounds like a 'fatal' flaw.
>
>colin
>
>>>Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 06:41:17 -0400
>>>From: Allan Balliett <igg@igg.com>
>>>Subject: Re: Sally Fallon/Colin Campbell
>>>X-Sender: igg@intrepid.net
>>>To: Guillermo Romero <romerog@Prodigy.Net.mx>
>>>Cc: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, bdnow@envirolink.org
>>>MIME-version: 1.0
>>>
>>>
>>>Sorry I have not been able to answer the latest concerns posted by Guillermo
>>>Romero until now.
>>>
>>>Colin Campbellís study has also been reviewed in the BeyondVegetarianism
>>>website (www.beyondveg.com). The authorís comments are much like my own, as
>>>delineated in my article on diet in China (www.WestonAPrice.org) The small
>>>number of data points, limited usefulness of the geographical correlations,
>>>the impossibility of drawing conclusions from the studyís ecological data,
>>>the elimination of group-level confounding and the lack of actual income data
>>>are all cited as serious flaws.
>>>
>>>Even worse, Dr. Campbell makes claims for his study that are not even true.
>>>For example ìThe China Study report lists only 6 statistically significant
>>>correlations between meat-eating and disease mortally. Further, 4 of the
>>>correlations are negative, which indicates that the mortality rate for the
>>>disease decreased as meat consumption increased. The two diseases that had
>>>positive correlations with meat consumption are schistosomiasis, a parasite,
>>>and pneumoconiosis and dust disease. Thus, the direct evidence of the study
>>>is hardly the condemnation of meat consumption that vegan dietary advocates
>>>may claim it to be.. . . meat intake generally did not correlate with disease
>>>mortality.î
>>>
>>>Yet Dr. Campbell continues to claim that it does. He never mentions that
>>>China has high levels of cancer and deficiency diseases. Instead, in a
>>>recent issue of Cornell Magazine (May/June 1999) Dr. Campbell makes the
>>>untenable claim that the vegan diet can protect us against cancer and heart
>>>disease and that a vegan diet is especially important for children.
>>>
>>>Letís have a look at what the scientific literature reports on vegan diets
>>>for kids.
>>>
>>>>From European Journal of Pediatrics (150(3):205-8 January 1991) ìWe
>>>>present a
>>>9-month-old exclusively breast-fed baby of a strict vegetarian mother who had
>>>excluded all animal proteins from her diet. The patientís symptoms included
>>>dystrophy, weakness, muscular atrophy, loss of tendon reflexes, psychomotor
>>>regression and hematological abnormalities. Biochemical investigations
>>>revealed severe methylmalonic aciduria and homocysteinuria in the patient,
>>>slight methylmalonic aciduria in the mother and low concentrations of serum
>>>vitamin B12 in both patient and mother.
>>>
>>>>From American Journal of Diseases of Children (133(2):141-4 February 1979)
>>>Severe nutritional deficiencies developed in four infants from a new vegan
>>>religious community. They had received breast milk until the age of 3
>>>months. Thereafter, breast milk was supplemented with or replaced by
>>>extremely low caloric-density preparations. All of the infants had profound
>>>protein-caloric malnutrition, severe rickets, osteoporosis and vitamin B12
>>>and other deficiencies. One infant died, while the three others had an
>>>uneventful recovery . After discharge of the infants from the hospital, the
>>>community responded well to a modification of the infantsí diet , which did
>>>not violate their vegetarian philosophy. However, they refused to give their
>>> infants vitamin B12 on a regular basis. [Comment: The three surviving
>>>children ìrecoveredî according to various observable parameters, but
>>>long-term neurological impairment, manifesting, for example, in learning
>>>disabilities, could not be determined at the time.]
>>>
>>>I have anecdotal reports, (not in the literature) of children of exclusively
>>>breast-fed babies of vegetarian mothers developing rampant tooth decay,
>>>almost as soon as baby teeth appear! Also anecdotally (not in the
>>>literature), there was a high level of Downís syndrome in children born to
>>>mothers in the vegetarian community of Yogananda in Los Angeles.
>>>
>>>There are many studies showing that vegetarians have lower levels of B12 in
>>>their blood. The elderly are another at-risk group because the ability to
>>>absorb B12 declines with age. The level at which a person manifests symptoms
>>>varies considerably. Some show symptoms of B12 deficiency when blood levels
>>>are in the ìnormalî range. Symptoms include anemia, multiple sclerosis,
>>>coronary heart disease, rickets, osteoporosis and psychiatric symptoms such
>>>as paranoia, violence, depression, dementia and fatigue. Tingling and
>>>numbness in the hands and feet, dizziness and nausea are common early signs
>>>of B12 deficiency.
>>>
>>>Some who practice veganism can go for many years without signs of B12
>>>deficiency for the following reason, again taken from the BeyondVeg website:
>>>To a great extent, B12 is recycled from liver bile in the digestive system.
>>>This is one reason why vitamin B12 deficiency is rare among vegans, even
>>>those who do not use supplements or supplement foods. The recycling is
>>>summarized by Herbert: The enterohepatic circulation of vitamin B12 is very
>>>important in vitamin B12 economy and homeostasis. Non vegetarians normally
>>>eat ~2-6 mcg of vitamin B12 per day and excrete from their liver into the
>>>intestine via their bile 5-10 mcg of vitamin B12 per day. If they have no
>>>gastric, pancreatic or small bowel dysfunction interfering with reabsorption,
>>>their bodies reabsorb ~3-5 mcg of vile vitamin B12 per day. Because of this,
>>>an efficient enterohepatic circulation keeps the adult vegan, who eats very
>>>little B12, from developing B12 deficiency disease for 20 to 30 years.
>>>[Comment: This explains why some can practice veganism for long periods of
>>>time, while others do very poorly, either abandoning the diet altogether, or
>>>having to ìcheat.î It also implies that individuals from largely vegetarian
>>>societies would have been selected out for better B12 recycling than
>>>individuals from largely carnivorous socieities.] Unlike the vegetarian
>>>whose absorption machinery is normal, the person whose absorption machinery
>>>is damaged by a defect in gastric secretion, by a defect in pancreatic
>>>secretion or by a defect in the gut that produces intestinal malabsorption
>>>will develop vitamin B12 deficiency in 1-3 years, because these absorption
>>>defects block not only absorption of food vitamin B12, but reabsorption of
>>>vitamin B12 excreted into the intestinal tract in the bile.î [Comment: The
>>>difference in length of time for B12 deficiencies to develop would explain
>>>why symptoms of deficiency appear just as frequently in non vegetarians as in
>>>vegans. But the children of vegans remain at risk.]
>>>
>>>Some people report improved medical conditions and increased energy levels on
>>>a vegan diet; others report excessive weight loss, digestive dysfunction,
>>>decreased energy levels, sallow appearance, increased susceptibility to
>>>infections, etc. Many who report health benefits at first, develop symptoms
>>>of deficiency over time (not only B12, but also deficiencies of vitamin D,
>>>vitamin A, zinc and iron.) Most at risk are children born to parents who
>>>practice strict veganism.
>>>
>>>Traditional societies practiced vegetarianism (including veganism)
>>>occasionally, either for religious reasons or because of famine conditions,
>>>but all put a high value on animal foods for parents-to-be, pregnant and
>>>lactating women and growing children. The way we eat has an effect on future
>>>generations. Letís choose our diet with wisdom and care.
>>>
>>>Sally Fallong
>>>www.westonaprice.org
>>>
>>
>>Guillermo Romero Ibarrola
>>Comala, Colima, MEXICO
>><romerog@Prodigy.Net.mx>
>
Guillermo Romero Ibarrola
Comala, Colima, MEXICO
<romerog@Prodigy.Net.mx>
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