Kathryn Rosenthal wrote:
> Every time I think we are done hearing about Dean Ornish, he pops up again.  This is this kind of "science" that so many people accept.  I wonder what Gary Taubs would say about this?  I'd like to see a study involving an organic paleo diet, exercise and stress management.
>
> Kath
>
>   1..  Lifestyle Changes Affect Cancer Genes [HealthDay News] 
>
>   TUESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) - Genes may not fully control your destiny when it comes to cancer risk, according to a new study of men with prostate cancer. 
>
>   New research suggests that stringent dietary changes, getting more exercise and practicing stress reduction can change the expression of hundreds of genes. Some of the changes positively affect genes that help fight cancer, while others help turn off genes that promote cancer development, according to the study, which is in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 
>
>   "These findings are very exciting. They counter the genetic nihilism I hear so often. People say, 'It's all in my genes, there's nothing I can do,' but actually you can do quite a lot," said the study's lead author, Dr. Dean Ornish, president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. 
>
>   Previous epidemiological studies have found that the incidence of prostate cancer is significantly lower in areas of the world where people eat a more plant-based, low-fat diet instead of the higher-fat, higher-protein diet often consumed in the United States. Because of these findings, Ornish and his colleagues initially set out to see if altering diet and lifestyle could decrease the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in men who'd been diagnosed with early prostate cancer. PSA is a blood marker for prostate growth. 
>
>   In September 2005, they reported that after intensive lifestyle changes - consuming a vegan diet with about 10 percent of calories from fat, walking 30 minutes six times a week, and practicing stress management one hour daily - men with early prostate cancer lowered their PSA scores by 4 percent, while men in the control group saw their PSA score rise by 6 percent. 
>
>   But, the researchers didn't know what the mechanism behind the change was, according to Ornish. The current study was designed to elucidate the reasons behind the improvement. 
Let me take a wild guess.  The primary improvement was the vitamin D 
they got from 1 hour of walking daily for those that did their walking 
outdoors.  I doubt that this a a parameter they even looked at while 
they Ornish continues to push his vegan low fat crap.  The only 
advantage of the low fat crap, and it is an advantage, is that it lowers 
trans-fats, a primary disease causer.  Cutting out the trans-fats and 
limiting polyunsaturated fats while getting generous helpings of other 
fats would be much more effective at improving health.

Ass to his looking at other countries where they get less meat, they 
also get little if any trans-fats, low amounts of processed foods, and 
usually are in sunnier climates where they spend more time outdoors 
getting more sun - vitamin D.  It is also likely that their agriculture 
is less intensive resulting in crops with more minerals than what one 
gets from the depleted soils used in USA. 

Ornish has always been one to compare apples to oranges and claim that 
he's looking at the same thing.

Steve