Milk protein blamed for heart disease

Monday, 9 April, 2001, 13:56 GMT 14:56 UK  BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1268000/1268481.stm

Guernsey cows do not produce the protein in their milk

Scientists believe a substance found in milk could be responsible for
thousands of cases of heart disease world-wide. They plan to test their
theory by examining heart disease among Channel Islanders on Guernsey and
Jersey.

The theory has been put forward by New Zealand scientist Dr Corrie
McLachlan, chief executive of A2 Corporation.

Dr McLachlan's company plans to market milk which does not contain the
protein he believes could be responsible for heart disease.

Guernsey cows produce milk which does not contain the protein, while those
from Jersey do.

Dr McLachlan believes his research will show that heart disease is much less
common among people from Guernsey than among the population of the
neighbouring Channel Island.

Casein

His theory centres on the protein casein, which is found in four different
varieties in milk.

He believes that one of the forms of casein, called beta-casein A2 is
harmless, but that the other three - most notably A1 - are linked to heart
disease.

The differences between the variant forms are very small - too small, some
scientists believe, to be significant.

But Dr McLachlan points to the fact that Finland has the highest consumption
of A1 in the world - and the highest rate of heart disease.

Conversely, milk in Japan, where heart disease is relatively rare, has low
levels of A1.

The UK has relatively high levels of A1 in milk, and a relatively high level
of heart disease.

Writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, Dr McLachlan also highlights
evidence from France and Northern Ireland.

He says: "The populations of Toulouse in France and Belfast in Northern
Ireland have almost identical collective traditional risk factors for heart
disease, yet the respective mortality rates vary more than threefold.

"People from Northern Ireland are estimated to consume 3.23 times more
beta-casein A1 than the French.

"The remarkable agreement between mortality and consumption suggests that
this factor is worthy of serious consideration as a potential source of
cardiovascular disease."

Dr McLachlan believes that A1 is more likely to break up in the bloodstream
and cause damage to the arteries.

He points out that the protein has also been linked to the development of
diabetes in children.


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