Eskimo heart disease
This is the paper.
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APPENDIX A
Studies cited by Bjerregaardet al21 that refer to CHD and atherosclerosis among Greenland
Eskimos.
Eskimos have less CHD/atherosclerosis than non-Eskimos
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Level of evidence: I
Ehrström, 1951
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Level of evidence: II
57
Bjerregaard,1988;58Bjerregaard&Dyerberg, 1988
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38
Level of evidence: III
Kroman and Green, 1980
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45
Eskimos have the same or more CHD/atherosclerosis than non-Eksimos
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Level of evidence: I
Bertelsen, 1940;20 Hansen et al. 1990;59Ingeman- Nielsen, 199060
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Pretty thin soup for the same or more heart disease category. What were the Inuit Bertelsen studied actually eating? The actual study is in Danish, and doesn't show up on Google.
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Notably, in 1940, A. Bertelsen, a Danish doctor that practiced for many
years in Greenland, described frequent occurrence of CAD in this Inuit population.
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Fodor argues that many Inuit lived where access to modern medical care was scant--so that unqualified persons filled out cause-of-death. Where did Bertelsen practice? Inuit that had better access to medical care, by definition, lived less remote to other modern conveniences--components of the modern diet, sugar, wheat, alcohol--cigarettes? etc. So while the argument that we can't be sure of the validity of the death records of remote Inuit may be true--we can't be sure just what Bertelsen's patients were eating. Maybe more omega-3's than European heritage Greenlanders. But what else? Other than this 1940's study, the studies cited by Fodor are more modern studies, in people whose traditional diet has been compromised.
Given the therapeutic effects of a low-carb diet, whether it's ketogenic or not, I'm a little doubtful myself about the relative importance of omega 3's here. But I don't think Fodor has established that low cardiovascular disease among traditional Inuit is a myth. The case for low heart disease might not be as tight as we'd like it to be--but I don't think it's been debunked.
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