(20-09-12) Study that sought to disparage health of eggs was authored by scientists with financial ties to Big Pharma

by J. D. Heyes

(NaturalNews) Do you remember recent reports about a supposedly unbiased
scientific study that concluded that eggs, in actuality, are not good for you?

If your so-called "BS meter" suddenly pegged, you had good reason to be
skeptical. Turns out the scientists who conducted the study have ties to Big
Pharma.

First, a little recap.

Writing in the journal Atherosclerosis, researchers lumped the consumption of
egg yolks with smoking, saying in essence that one was just as bad as the other
in clogging your arteries.

Dr. J. David Spence, a professor of neurology at Western University in Canada,
wrote that he and his team found a relationship between the consumption of egg
yolks and the development of atherosclerosis, a condition in which arteries
become clogged, causing a range of health problems, the most prominent of which
are heart attack and stroke. In atherosclerosis, plaque accumulates over time
along the walls of arteries, narrowing them.

The team surveyed 1,231 middle-aged male and female patients who had been
referred to a vascular clinic at the London Health Sciences Center's University
Hospital after they had suffered a "mini-stroke" or a regular stroke.

Spence's team examined the patients' carotid wall thickness then compared it
with answers about egg yolk consumption, exercise habits, smoking and other
lifestyle factors. In the end, Spence and his team concluded that the top 20
percent of egg consumers had narrowing of the carotid artery that was two-
thirds that of smokers.

Bogus methodology?

Spence admitted that it did not have data to look at overall dietary patterns,
and that, say other experts, is part of the problem.

Spence's entire research seems to be predicated on a single questionnaire in
which the patients examined were asked about "their lifestyle and medications,
including pack-years of smoking, and the number of egg yolks consumed per week
times the number of years consumed (egg-yolk years)."

Further, according to paleolithic health guru Mark Sisson, study methodology
that is dependent upon the subject's memory, honesty and accuracy is, by
definition, unreliable.

"Moreover, since it's a single data point, no causality can be ascribed," adds
a critique of the study by the Alliance for Natural Health.

"This study does not address other dietary factors known to influence
cardiovascular risk, such as saturated and trans fat, or dietary fiber," Dr.
David J. Gordon, a special assistant for clinical studies at the Division of
Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute, told
Huffington Post.

Funded by Big Pharma

Furthermore, the study's authors admitted to conflicts of interest when
performing a similar study two years ago, the ANH pointed out. In a special
"Conflicts of Interest" section posted at the end of the study, which was
published in The Canadian Journal of Cardiology, while Spence and his team
"receives funding from the purveyors of margarine or eggs," Spence, along with
fellow team member Dr. Jean Davignon, "have received honoraria and speaker's
fees from several pharmaceutical companies manufacturing lipid-lowering drugs."
In addition, Davignon "has received support from Pfizer Canada for an annual
atherosclerosis symposium; his research has been funded in part by Pfizer
Canada, AstraZeneca Canada Inc and Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.," the disclosure
said.

The ANH said it smells a rat.

"See how this works? Big Pharma has a vested interest in selling drugs to
lower cholesterol," the group said in its critique. "Big Pharma funds research
that says our favorite breakfast food causes high cholesterol (which is not
true). The idea is to give people...a false choice: change a lifelong dietary
habit, or pop a pill. Big Pharma thinks they know which choice most people will
make."

Full disclosure: A number of physicians and the Mayo Clinic believe egg yolks
can be harmful, if eaten in excess. And at least one study - detailed here -
found that eggs are lower in cholesterol (while higher in vitamin D) than
originally thought.

Sources:

http://www.anh-usa.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

www.atherosclerosis-journal.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

News

---

In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.