At 6:13 -0500 28/11/02, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:
>But a high blood cholesterol *is* a *strong marker* for heart and artery
>diseases.
Are you sure about that? How then do you explain the French Paradox?
Average total cholesterol level
France 6.1mmol/l
UK 6.2mmol/l
Average HDL 'good cholesterol'
France 1.3mmol/l
UK 1.3mmol/l
Average systolic blood pressure
France 150mmHg
UK 148mmHg
Average body mass index (BMI)
France 26.6kg/m2
UK 26.6kg/m2
Rate of smoking
France 33%
UK 29%
Consumption of saturated fat % of calories
France 25.7%
UK 27.0%
Rate of type II diabetes (amalgamation of a number of studies)
France ~2.0%
UK ~2.0%
Death rate from CHD ICD 414 classification
France 128/100,000/year
UK 487/100,000/year
Figures from http://www.redflagsweekly.com/kendrick/2002_nov14.html
...R.