Hello and welcome to
Health for a Lifetime.
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I'm your host Don Mackintosh.
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We're glad that
you've joined us today.
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We have an exciting topic today.
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We're going to be talking about
the Adventist Health Study.
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There's been
several studies done.
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Our guest today is familiar
with the studies that had been
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done and he's also familiar
with the study that is beginning
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right now and is on-going
Adventist Health Study 2.
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If you'd like to be involved,
and we hope that you will be
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involved in the
Adventist Health Study,
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you can go to
adventisthealthstudy. org.
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Talking with us
today is Dr. Gary Fraser.
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He's a researcher
and a cardiologist.
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He has practiced
also in internal medicine.
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He's looked at epidemiology and
has a masters in Public Health.
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He teaches and practices at
Loma Linda but really works with
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an interdisciplinary research
team from around the world.
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When you look at
Adventist Health Study,
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isn't that right?
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Yes, that's right.
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So you have a board of directors
from Harvard and Stanford
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and all these different places
and you've gotten some funding
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to continue this
Adventist Health Study.
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I just want in this program
to review what are the previous
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studies, briefly, and
then go into what we're looking
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at in this new study.
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Adventists provide a remarkable
opportunity to particularly
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study diet but also
other factors in relation to
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risk of chronic disease.
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Mainly because we have a
very wide variety of practice
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within our group which a
lot of people don't realize.
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The first study of
Adventists was way back in 1960.
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We call that The
Adventist Mortality Study.
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The second study began in 1974.
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We call it
Adventist Health Study 1.
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Most of the results that you
will have heard about perhaps,
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of which I've talked
about, have come from that
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study in 1974.
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We have well along now,
however; a great opportunity,
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an exciting new study that we
call Adventist Health Study 2.
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This time we want to enroll
100,000 people from right across
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the United States and
also Canada, all Adventists
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and all 30
years of age and over.
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So far we have 86,000
people enrolled which is
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a large number of
people - small city.
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So we're well along the way.
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We do need a few more.
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If people want to be involved,
and we hope that you do,
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you go to
adventisthealthstudy. org
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At the time of this
airing it well may be under way,
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the study may be in progress,
but you can see what's happening
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with the study and it may be
that you're seeing this while
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they still need people.
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So go to the website, contact
your local church or conference.
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They all know how to
get in touch with the
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Adventist Health Study.
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Be a part of the research.
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Now in the initial study
you looked at things like
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heart disease and
cancer and you saw that they're
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actually was a real benefit
between being a vegetarian
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vs. non-vegetarian.
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Yes, no question about that.
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The Adventist
experience is absolutely unique.
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We recently had an article
in the National Geographic
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which show that the California
Adventists are perhaps some
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of the longest
lived people in the world.
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This appears to
relate to their lifestyle.
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The data's out there
and I think the government
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is involved in funding
some of those studies, but it's
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exciting new opportunity
is to go to the next level.
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What is it that you're
going to be looking at?
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A number of areas, but why is
that people should be involved?
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What are you going to look at?
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How will it help?
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Despite the fact that it might
seem that we know a lot about
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diet and chronic disease,
in fact what we don't know
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far exceeds what we know.
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There's a lot of ifs,
maybes, possiblys, and very few
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certainties out there.
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So to get greater certainty
with many of these questions
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we need very,
very large studies.
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This is why it might seem like
a 100,000 people is a little
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excessive but it's really not.
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The particular questions that we
got funded on are really three.
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One is the whole question of
soy intake and chronic disease.
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Secondly, vitamin D and calcium
and sunlight exposure - those
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things are all related.
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It turns out that they probably
are related to risk of cancer.
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It's interesting that
many people don't realize that.
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And the third thing is
some of the fatty acids that are
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different between
vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
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Some of these relate to
inflammation and that might be
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important for cancer as well.
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Let's go back and talk a
little bit about the mechanisms
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that are involved and why it
is that they are so interested.
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I guess again the people
that say whether or not this is
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something worthy of funding,
something worthy to look at,
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are groups from
all over the place.
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It's not just
people at Loma Linda.
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It's people from Harvard,
Stanford, all these different
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places, and they say, "This
is a valid question to ask. "
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Yes, that's correct.
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Why is it that they're saying
that looking at soy consumption
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as it relates to what
you call chronic disease?
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What are the mechanisms
that are intriguing them?
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Give us a little
more information on that.
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In part I think that these are
important because there is such
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a lot of information in the
popular press that suggests that
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Americans should be taking
isoflavone pills and eating soy
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products for a
wide variety of things.
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Yet it turns out the evidence to
support that is still somewhat
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insecure.
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So we have potential problems
here of a lot of people doing
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something that you
don't entirely know how
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beneficial it is.
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The interesting thing is
that outside of the Far East
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there is no easily identified
population apart from Adventists
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in the United
States, particularly,
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who eat lots of soy.
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There have been a number
of studies in the Far East
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that look kind of interesting is
that people who eat soy may have
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reduced breast cancer, maybe
prostate cancer, and it maybe
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that it's different in
different times of the life
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that you eat the soy.
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For instance, two studies have
indicated that it's maybe the
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soy girls eat in their
adolescence that protect them
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from breast
cancer in later life.
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That work is largely
being done in the Far East.
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The kinds of soy products they
eat back there are different
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than the kind of soy
products in general that we have
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available here.
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We think that the active
principle in all of these
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are isoflavones.
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Those are chemicals
which are very interesting
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because they are
actually plant estrogens.
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We know that estrogens
are particularly important for
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cancers of the breast and they
also have a big influence on
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cancers of the
prostate, interestingly.
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So plant estrogens is thought
may have influence on some
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of these hormonally dependent
cancers in interesting ways.
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We already have a little
bit of data on Adventists from
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Adventist Health Study 1 that
suggests that soy consumption,
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soy milk consumption might
reduce the risk of prostate
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cancer.
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But that's only really the
beginnings of the evidence.
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We need so much more.
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Particularly in
the African American,
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the black Adventist
population, prostate cancer
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is such a problem.
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In fact blacks in general,
not just Adventists, where the
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risks appear to be about double
than the white population.
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We don't know why.
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If we can find some preventative
principles in that group,
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it would be a great improvement.
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Especially the African American
or it doesn't have to be
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American, the black
culture, if you can be involved
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in the study, contact them.
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This is going to be
very helpful to look at that.
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So you are going to
look at soy consumption.
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How do you go about that?
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You're a researcher, a
statistician as well as a
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a cardiologist in
internal medicine.
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How do you know for sure
that the samples you're getting
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are actually accurate?
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A very good question
because trying to find out what
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one person eats let alone a
100,000 people eat, there's a
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tremendous challenge.
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We have put together
a large questionnaire.
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Larger than we would like
but it's large because it needs
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to be large.
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Then we've done a number of
side studies where we've taken
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the results from this
questionnaire from smaller
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groups of people and
then taken those same people
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and gotten much more
detailed information.
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For instance, we've
had them tell us 8 times,
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8 different days, on the
phone everything they ate.
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And then it looked like people
eat a lot of soy on this very
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detailed way of accessing
their diet, do they, the same
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people that looked like
they had a lot of soy on the
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questionnaire?
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In fact the correlations is good
enough that we believe that the
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data we get on the questionnaire
are reasonably accurate.
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The other thing we've just
done is that we've taken a group
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of about 200 people who gave us
an over night urine, some of the
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same people that are involved
in the study, and we measured
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the isoflavones, these
phytoestrogens in the urine.
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Then that way you know
for sure what they have.
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That's right.
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Then we related
that to what they told us
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on the questionnaire.
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And again the
correlations between those two
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were quite strong.
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Of course you have to be
certain that you're getting
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good information.
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What about the sunlight,
vitamin D, calcium connection?
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What's the mechanism there?
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Why is it that
they are funding that?
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Vitamin D is something
which everybody knows prevents
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rickets and
osteomyelitis - bone health.
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But it turns out in the last
10 years or so, scientists have
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come to realize that it's a
much more interesting substance
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than that.
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It turns out
that it's probably got
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anti-inflammatory properties.
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It also helps cells mature and
stop dividing in a disorganized
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way, which of course is
the characteristic of cancer.
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And so we have some
evidence already that vitamin D
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is an anti-cancer principle.
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We have some evidence also that
it prevents high blood pressure.
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It probably has some
anti-inflammatory capacity
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which helps it prevent
even recurring heart disease.
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This is all cutting
edge kind of material and the
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evidence is highly suggestive
but it's not really secure.
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This is why we get
funded to look at this.
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But it's a very, very
interesting substance.
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Moreover, probably
most Americans are mildly or
00:11:42.81\00:11:46.91
moderately deficient.
00:11:46.94\00:11:48.74
Where does the sunlight come in?
00:11:48.77\00:11:51.39
Most of the vitamin D
we get actually comes from
00:11:51.42\00:11:53.79
sun exposure.
00:11:53.83\00:11:55.01
Some of it comes from
dairy products that have been
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supplemented with vitamin
D and others will come from
00:11:59.18\00:12:03.25
fish, oil of fish,
those that eat fish,
00:12:03.28\00:12:04.71
which is really about
the only natural product
00:12:04.75\00:12:06.71
that has much vitamin D.
00:12:06.75\00:12:08.04
But we can make all the
vitamin D we need in the skin,
00:12:08.08\00:12:11.87
providing we have
adequate sun exposure.
00:12:11.90\00:12:14.28
But getting adequate sun
exposure in the way that is
00:12:14.32\00:12:18.23
necessary is
actually quite difficult.
00:12:18.26\00:12:20.25
It turns out that in latitudes
30 degrees and north is only
00:12:20.28\00:12:24.35
about 3 or 4 months of the year
that the sun actually works.
00:12:24.38\00:12:28.41
And moreover, it's only between
about 10 a. m. and 3 p. m.
00:12:28.44\00:12:32.43
that it works.
00:12:32.47\00:12:33.44
So there's a lot of
people, of course, cover up.
00:12:33.45\00:12:36.66
A lot of people
use a lot of sun block.
00:12:36.70\00:12:39.06
And of course there is some
point to all that, because too
00:12:39.09\00:12:42.65
much sun exposure is not good
for skin health and skin cancer.
00:12:42.68\00:12:46.21
But there's a very happy
medium that needs to be struck.
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Unfortunately, many people
are not meeting that standard.
00:12:50.62\00:12:54.85
As we talk today 86,000
people that are signed up
00:12:54.88\00:12:59.08
from all over the United States.
00:12:59.11\00:13:01.47
Some of them are to
the North and to the South
00:13:01.51\00:13:04.67
of that latitude that you're...
00:13:04.71\00:13:06.11
So you'll be able to take
those groups and look at them?
00:13:06.14\00:13:09.78
It will be a
very powerful study.
00:13:09.81\00:13:11.20
What about the African American
and the melanin in their skin?
00:13:11.24\00:13:15.16
Are you looking closely at
that relationship specifically
00:13:15.19\00:13:19.29
for them?
00:13:19.32\00:13:20.29
Very much so.
00:13:20.32\00:13:21.29
We do believe that there's
not very much evidence on that
00:13:21.30\00:13:26.51
group yet.
00:13:26.54\00:13:27.51
We're going to provide
some of the best evidence that
00:13:27.52\00:13:29.94
probably their vitamin D
levels are lower, in fact,
00:13:29.97\00:13:34.59
than Caucasians.
00:13:34.62\00:13:35.63
In fact we've already in
a preliminary way done some
00:13:35.66\00:13:38.87
analysis of that sort
demonstrated that is the case.
00:13:38.90\00:13:41.98
Interestingly, the bone
health of black Americans is,
00:13:42.01\00:13:47.09
if anything, better
than white Americans.
00:13:47.12\00:13:49.33
So there's a dissonance there.
00:13:49.37\00:13:50.93
But whether the vitamin D
protective qualities on cancer
00:13:50.96\00:13:55.76
and heart disease might still
show themselves in the black
00:13:55.80\00:14:00.56
community because of their lower
levels of vitamin D remains
00:14:00.59\00:14:03.92
an open possibility.
00:14:03.95\00:14:05.86
We're talking
with Dr. Gary Fraser.
00:14:05.89\00:14:08.26
He's the principle researcher
at the Adventist Health Study.
00:14:08.30\00:14:11.42
We'd like you to
be a part of that.
00:14:11.45\00:14:14.19
I don't know when you'll be
watching this but as we make
00:14:14.23\00:14:17.05
the program we definitely need
more help and people enlisting
00:14:17.08\00:14:20.87
in this study.
00:14:20.90\00:14:21.87
You can go to
adventisthealthstudy. org
00:14:21.88\00:14:24.69
to be a part of that.
00:14:24.73\00:14:25.70
Contact your local
Health and Temperance Leader
00:14:25.71\00:14:28.32
in your conference and they
can get you contact information.
00:14:28.36\00:14:31.83
When we come back we'll continue
talking about the exciting
00:14:31.87\00:14:35.31
opportunity we have in
Adventist Health Study 2.
00:14:35.34\00:14:37.84
We hope that you join us.
00:14:37.87\00:14:38.87
Have you found
yourself wishing that you could
00:14:40.58\00:14:42.79
shed a few pounds?
00:14:42.82\00:14:43.79
Have you been on a
diet for most of your life,
00:14:43.80\00:14:46.32
but not found anything that
will really keep the weight off?
00:14:46.36\00:14:49.57
If you've answered yes to
any of these questions, then we
00:14:49.61\00:14:52.79
have a solution
for you that works.
00:14:52.83\00:14:55.38
Dr. Hans Diehl and
Dr. Aileen Ludington
00:14:55.42\00:14:57.74
have written a
marvelous booklet called,
00:14:57.78\00:15:00.03
Reversing Obesity Naturally,
and we'd like to send it to you
00:15:00.06\00:15:03.66
free of charge.
00:15:03.69\00:15:04.83
Here's a medically sound
approach successfully used
00:15:04.86\00:15:07.83
by thousands who
are able to eat more
00:15:07.87\00:15:10.02
and loose weight permanently
00:15:10.06\00:15:11.63
without feeling guilty or hungry
through lifestyle medicine.
00:15:11.67\00:15:15.24
Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington
have been featured on 3ABN
00:15:15.28\00:15:18.83
and in this booklet they present
a sensible approach to eating,
00:15:18.86\00:15:22.48
nutrition, and lifestyle changes
that can help you prevent
00:15:22.51\00:15:25.69
heart disease,
diabetes, and even cancer.
00:15:25.73\00:15:28.09
Call or write
today for your free copy:
00:15:28.13\00:15:30.46
Welcome back.
00:15:41.78\00:15:42.75
We're talking
with Dr. Gary Fraser.
00:15:42.76\00:15:43.97
We're talking about
the Adventist Health Study.
00:15:44.01\00:15:46.19
This is an exciting opportunity.
00:15:46.23\00:15:48.91
I hope that you are a
part of it already if you're a
00:15:48.95\00:15:51.04
Seventh-day Adventist Christian.
00:15:51.07\00:15:52.53
If not, go to
adventisthealthstudy. org
00:15:52.57\00:15:56.29
Dr. Fraser you've been sharing
just some fascinating things
00:15:56.33\00:15:59.93
not only about what's been done
which really lays the foundation
00:15:59.96\00:16:04.29
for these...
00:16:04.33\00:16:05.30
You wrote a book, published
by Oxford, what is it, about
00:16:05.31\00:16:08.58
250-300 studies that have been
done on Seventh-day Adventists?
00:16:08.62\00:16:11.87
Yes, published studies.
00:16:11.90\00:16:13.98
So people look at them.
00:16:14.01\00:16:16.02
They are like one of the
only vegetarian groups in the
00:16:16.06\00:16:19.49
Western cultures as opposed
to maybe the East and then also
00:16:19.52\00:16:24.52
this National Geographic
recently was published
00:16:24.56\00:16:27.50
that profiles the
Okinawians, Sardinians, and the
00:16:27.53\00:16:30.44
Seventh-day Adventists.
00:16:30.47\00:16:31.49
But the real thing is this
exciting opportunity that we
00:16:31.53\00:16:36.10
have now is based on
the research that was done
00:16:36.14\00:16:38.30
a number of years ago isn't it?
00:16:38.34\00:16:39.57
Oh, it very much so.
00:16:39.60\00:16:40.71
So this Adventist Health Study
2 we talked in the first half
00:16:40.74\00:16:45.31
about soy consumption and the
possible relationship between
00:16:45.34\00:16:49.87
that and chronic
diseases like cancer.
00:16:49.91\00:16:51.30
You also talked about sunlight,
vitamin D, calcium connection.
00:16:51.34\00:16:58.25
But there's other
things that also they are
00:16:58.29\00:17:02.25
wanting to look at.
00:17:02.28\00:17:03.25
One of them is dietary fats.
00:17:03.26\00:17:04.52
What's the mechanism there?
00:17:04.56\00:17:06.20
Why are they looking at that?
00:17:06.24\00:17:07.81
Well, of course vegetarians,
are people who trained
00:17:07.85\00:17:11.42
in that direction have a rather
different intake of fatty acids
00:17:11.45\00:17:17.79
than non-vegetarians.
00:17:17.82\00:17:19.28
Specifically they have
much less of the saturated fat.
00:17:19.32\00:17:23.88
Or turning it over, the
non-vegetarians eat much more
00:17:23.92\00:17:28.44
saturated fat.
00:17:28.48\00:17:29.45
That has all kinds of
implications for the blood
00:17:29.46\00:17:32.97
cholesterol and
heart disease, of course.
00:17:33.00\00:17:35.17
But it probably also has some
implications for cancer risks.
00:17:35.21\00:17:39.64
Also, the meat and dairy
products contain a particular
00:17:39.68\00:17:45.37
long chain unsaturated fatty
acid called arachidonic acid.
00:17:45.40\00:17:51.06
That turns out to be the
pre-cursor of a whole slew
00:17:51.09\00:17:55.30
of chemicals in the body
that tend towards promoting
00:17:55.33\00:17:59.50
inflammation in the system.
00:17:59.54\00:18:01.31
So that maybe important as well.
00:18:01.34\00:18:03.79
As I said before, this is
on the edge of the research
00:18:03.82\00:18:07.32
somewhat and these are
interesting ideas that still
00:18:07.35\00:18:10.81
need to be explored further.
00:18:10.84\00:18:12.15
But on animals and laboratory
works this is how it looks.
00:18:12.19\00:18:15.85
There's another array of
chemicals that tend to be
00:18:15.88\00:18:20.87
anti-inflammatory that are
based on a different set of
00:18:20.90\00:18:25.86
fatty acids that are based on
linolenic and some of the fats
00:18:25.89\00:18:30.47
that we find in oily fish.
00:18:30.51\00:18:33.62
So there are these two families
of fatty acids and the products
00:18:33.65\00:18:39.11
that they produce that
are found in very different
00:18:39.14\00:18:42.48
proportions among
vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
00:18:42.52\00:18:45.79
And probably are important for
both heart disease and certain
00:18:45.82\00:18:50.28
cancers because inflammation
plays an causal role in both
00:18:50.31\00:18:54.73
of these.
00:18:54.77\00:18:55.74
For instance, cancer of the
prostate and cancer of the colon
00:18:55.75\00:18:58.57
and probably some of the others.
00:18:58.60\00:19:00.04
So this inflammation process
sets people up for the cancer
00:19:00.07\00:19:04.32
which is related to the
fatty acids is basically what
00:19:04.36\00:19:08.06
you're saying - one
of those two chains?
00:19:08.09\00:19:10.07
Yes, that seems to be the case
particularly in animal work and
00:19:10.10\00:19:13.81
laboratory work and
also some preliminary work
00:19:13.84\00:19:17.86
in whole people.
00:19:17.89\00:19:18.97
But we need to build on that.
00:19:19.01\00:19:20.99
This is how research is done.
00:19:21.03\00:19:22.94
You've got the
National Institute of Health.
00:19:22.97\00:19:24.90
You've got all those different
boards and it's very competitive
00:19:24.93\00:19:27.57
as fundings kind of evaporates.
00:19:27.60\00:19:30.55
You told me it's something like
12% of proposals that are sent
00:19:30.59\00:19:34.53
get funded.
00:19:34.57\00:19:35.54
But when they look at it
they say, "What's been happening
00:19:35.55\00:19:38.38
in the animal studies, why is it
we should give you the funding?"
00:19:38.42\00:19:42.72
That's the essence of it.
00:19:42.76\00:19:45.40
In fact I just put together
another application for our
00:19:45.43\00:19:48.10
next 5 years.
00:19:48.13\00:19:49.10
You are faced with the problem,
or the challenge I should say,
00:19:49.11\00:19:53.24
of putting together a compelling
story that this is something
00:19:53.28\00:19:57.48
that really needs to be
done and moreover you can do
00:19:57.51\00:20:00.25
it better than anyone else.
00:20:00.29\00:20:01.32
This proposal you're
putting together is actually
00:20:01.36\00:20:05.41
going the next step not just
questionnaires but actually have
00:20:05.45\00:20:09.06
blood samples that are
drawn and different things among
00:20:09.10\00:20:14.03
church groups in the
churches around the country.
00:20:14.07\00:20:17.28
Yes, we have one of the first
studies that's right across
00:20:17.31\00:20:21.91
the nation and also Canada.
00:20:21.94\00:20:23.81
As you pointed out that's
got this big range of latitude
00:20:23.84\00:20:27.77
but it's also got other
advantages but challenges
00:20:27.80\00:20:31.68
as well because think about
the problem of getting blood
00:20:31.72\00:20:35.56
from perhaps 50-60,000 people,
we won't get it from everybody.
00:20:35.60\00:20:39.17
Scattered across that
geographical range we plan to
00:20:39.20\00:20:43.34
conduct clinics in
perhaps 3,000 plus churches.
00:20:43.37\00:20:46.51
Well, you know there is always
Federal Express or these other
00:20:46.54\00:20:50.27
things now today. - laughter -
00:20:50.31\00:20:51.41
Maybe you'll have some kind
of centralized lab or something.
00:20:51.44\00:20:55.70
Now another thing you're looking
at is genetics and how they may
00:20:55.74\00:20:59.97
modify results from what
we eat or don't eat or what we
00:21:00.00\00:21:05.48
do or don't do.
00:21:05.52\00:21:06.49
Yes, this is becoming very
much in the fore of research
00:21:06.50\00:21:12.14
of this sort today.
00:21:12.17\00:21:13.85
One can really not do research
on diet without taking into
00:21:13.88\00:21:17.11
account the fact that people
are genetically different.
00:21:17.14\00:21:20.33
What we mean by that
is that they metabolize
00:21:20.37\00:21:23.21
foods in different ways.
00:21:23.24\00:21:24.52
So even though we may feel that
eating tomatoes is protective
00:21:24.56\00:21:28.28
against ovarian cancer
in general, that might hide
00:21:28.31\00:21:31.68
the fact that there is a certain
sub group of woman that get
00:21:31.72\00:21:35.04
tremendous advantage from
eating tomatoes and another
00:21:35.07\00:21:37.78
sub group who get no advantage.
00:21:37.82\00:21:38.99
So on average it looks
like a moderate advantage.
00:21:39.02\00:21:42.43
But it would be so much better
if we could identify the people
00:21:42.46\00:21:46.01
that got the huge advantage
and focus on them rather than
00:21:46.05\00:21:48.97
wasting our efforts on those
that don't get any advantage
00:21:49.01\00:21:51.90
from eating tomatoes.
00:21:51.93\00:21:52.90
For instance,
that's just an example.
00:21:52.91\00:21:54.19
This is one of the reasons that
we would like to get the blood
00:21:54.23\00:22:00.36
that we talked about before.
00:22:00.39\00:22:01.90
We can then divide our
population up into people who
00:22:01.94\00:22:05.79
are metabolically different
and see if we can find those
00:22:05.82\00:22:09.35
sub groups who are responders
and non-responders to these
00:22:09.38\00:22:12.87
different foods.
00:22:12.91\00:22:14.14
A quick question.
00:22:14.18\00:22:15.34
You are a cardiologist.
00:22:15.38\00:22:16.35
I want to ask this.
00:22:16.36\00:22:17.33
Speaking of genetics, we
have people that go through
00:22:17.34\00:22:19.92
health programs we've held
at our church over the last
00:22:19.96\00:22:23.08
few years - coronary health
improvement program, the CHIP
00:22:23.12\00:22:26.21
program that Hans Diehl
originated and we take a
00:22:26.25\00:22:28.46
blood sample at the
beginning and at the end.
00:22:28.50\00:22:31.80
We have people that
are Seventh-day Adventists
00:22:31.83\00:22:35.07
that have really been vegans,
I guess you'd say, and some of
00:22:35.10\00:22:39.92
them will just have a really
high cholesterol and they're
00:22:39.96\00:22:44.75
not eating any animal products.
00:22:44.78\00:22:47.03
What are the genetics with that?
00:22:47.07\00:22:49.29
Is that a genetic thing?
00:22:49.32\00:22:50.94
There is a lot of genetics.
00:22:50.98\00:22:52.52
Probably the genetic
determinates about cholesterol
00:22:52.56\00:22:56.27
is stronger than
the dietary on average.
00:22:56.31\00:22:59.54
I've had exactly the
same experience as you.
00:22:59.57\00:23:02.73
I run the lypic clinic at
Loma Linda University and I have
00:23:02.77\00:23:05.75
vegetarians who are totally
confused by the fact that their
00:23:05.78\00:23:08.73
cholesterol is higher
than they think it should be.
00:23:08.77\00:23:11.57
Now that means that whatever
your genes are, however, you
00:23:11.60\00:23:16.61
still get benefit from
having an appropriate diet.
00:23:16.65\00:23:19.67
If my cholesterol was now 250
because I have some genes that
00:23:19.70\00:23:24.94
are not so good, if I
didn't have an appropriate diet
00:23:24.98\00:23:27.57
they would probably be 300.
00:23:27.60\00:23:28.61
So it's always worth while
living properly but there are
00:23:28.65\00:23:32.76
that group of people who will
probably need medications in
00:23:32.79\00:23:36.51
addition to get them down
to the levels we now know are
00:23:36.55\00:23:40.23
ideal.
00:23:40.27\00:23:41.24
So in other words, just because
it's genetic and it wasn't
00:23:41.25\00:23:44.19
anything you did wrong, it's
still not something to ignore.
00:23:44.22\00:23:47.23
If you have cholesterol
that's elevated you need to get
00:23:47.26\00:23:50.23
it down.
00:23:50.27\00:23:51.24
Oh, very much so,
that's the case, yes.
00:23:51.25\00:23:53.18
Ok, so we've talked about
the opportunity we have with
00:23:53.21\00:23:56.94
Adventist Health Study 2,
building on what's happened with
00:23:56.98\00:24:00.68
Adventist Health Study 1.
00:24:00.71\00:24:02.12
One other thing, and I want
to bring it up in this segment
00:24:02.15\00:24:05.21
as well, is you're going to look
at religion and religiosity as
00:24:05.25\00:24:10.80
it relates to mortality.
00:24:10.84\00:24:12.05
Talk with us a
little bit about that.
00:24:12.08\00:24:13.92
Initially it started
off that people noticed that
00:24:13.95\00:24:17.45
Seventh-day Adventists
and Latter Day Saints and
00:24:17.48\00:24:20.91
some others had some differences
in their health experience.
00:24:20.95\00:24:23.63
So that's kind of a
denominational identifier.
00:24:23.67\00:24:27.10
Then people got to
looking at church attendance,
00:24:27.13\00:24:30.49
many different denominations
and found that the people
00:24:30.52\00:24:34.09
attended church more regularly
had a lower risk of mortality
00:24:34.13\00:24:38.56
and in particular
coronary heart mortality.
00:24:38.59\00:24:40.44
Then got to thinking that it
probably just wasn't attendance
00:24:40.47\00:24:44.47
that was important.
00:24:44.50\00:24:45.84
So what could it be?
00:24:45.87\00:24:47.13
It was probably something
much more subtle than that.
00:24:47.17\00:24:51.40
It may be several things.
00:24:51.44\00:24:52.61
There's usually not
just one factor in these.
00:24:52.65\00:24:54.23
Religion can have... it
can interface with your life in
00:24:54.26\00:24:59.35
many, many different ways
and provide potential protection
00:24:59.39\00:25:04.44
and also for harm, actually.
00:25:04.47\00:25:05.78
So we need to dig a
lot deeper than that.
00:25:05.81\00:25:09.51
We're interested in things like
prayer life, attitudes to prayer
00:25:09.55\00:25:13.46
amongst Adventist, but not
only Adventist, the Sabbath day,
00:25:13.49\00:25:17.35
and the concept of
the Sabbath day rest.
00:25:17.39\00:25:19.40
Many people will interpret the
Sabbath in a very different way
00:25:19.44\00:25:24.98
to others.
00:25:25.02\00:25:25.99
Some will go out and do all
kinds of activities in nature
00:25:26.00\00:25:32.77
others take it very
literally as a rest.
00:25:32.80\00:25:35.29
Others see it as a
burden, wishing they were able
00:25:35.33\00:25:37.96
to do something else.
00:25:38.00\00:25:38.97
So you're going to
be looking at those?
00:25:38.98\00:25:41.87
Exactly.
00:25:41.91\00:25:42.88
That will be fascinating.
00:25:42.91\00:25:45.49
I think this will be
applicable to not just to
00:25:45.53\00:25:48.09
Seventh-day Adventists,
of course, but we'll learn
00:25:48.13\00:25:50.66
lessons for
just about everybody.
00:25:50.70\00:25:52.23
Yes, and that's of
course we got funded because
00:25:52.27\00:25:54.81
we could make the point that
Adventist have many things in
00:25:54.84\00:25:58.10
common with many
other denominations.
00:25:58.14\00:25:59.58
What we would learn amongst
Adventists, with the great
00:25:59.61\00:26:02.23
variety that we have of practice
and belief will be applicable
00:26:02.26\00:26:05.84
in a broader sense.
00:26:05.87\00:26:07.17
Now, I don't want to put
you on the spot or anything,
00:26:07.21\00:26:09.39
but you're a researcher from
Loma Linda University, you've
00:26:09.42\00:26:12.67
been a Seventh-day
Adventist a number of years.
00:26:12.71\00:26:16.42
The writings of Ellen White,
sometimes people respond in
00:26:16.45\00:26:20.91
different ways to those, but
as a researcher over the last
00:26:20.94\00:26:24.67
30 years, do you have more or
less confidence in Ellen White
00:26:24.71\00:26:28.40
as you're coming
through this research?
00:26:28.44\00:26:29.93
Oh I think the advice that she
gave the church on health has
00:26:29.96\00:26:35.97
been just a marvelous benefit.
00:26:36.01\00:26:37.91
Here we are as a group
that have had for 140 years
00:26:37.94\00:26:44.23
in her writings information
which the general population
00:26:44.26\00:26:49.04
has really only had, or only
getting now, or certainly not
00:26:49.08\00:26:53.82
had for more
than 10 or 15 years.
00:26:53.86\00:26:55.06
I see in Adventism this
being a gift which is our
00:26:55.09\00:26:59.66
responsibility to give
to our neighbors and friends
00:26:59.69\00:27:03.07
to the world, not
something to keep to ourselves.
00:27:03.10\00:27:06.48
Thank you so much, Dr.
Fraser, for what you do
00:27:06.52\00:27:09.83
in research and for what
you're doing at Loma Linda
00:27:09.86\00:27:12.97
and spearheading this.
00:27:13.01\00:27:14.60
The Lord has really gifted
you to be in that position.
00:27:14.64\00:27:17.48
I know you take it seriously.
00:27:17.52\00:27:18.65
Thank you for what you do.
00:27:18.68\00:27:19.75
Thank you for
being with us today.
00:27:19.78\00:27:21.21
Thank you for the invitation.
00:27:21.25\00:27:22.54
Thank you for joining us
today on Health for a Lifetime.
00:27:22.57\00:27:25.71
If you have not become a part
of the Adventist Health Study,
00:27:25.74\00:27:28.84
I think that Dr. will agree
with me, please sign up now
00:27:28.88\00:27:31.91
especially if you're an
African American, but no matter
00:27:31.94\00:27:35.82
what you are continue to
be involved in the process.
00:27:35.85\00:27:39.66
adventisthealthstudy. org is
where you would go to sign up
00:27:39.70\00:27:44.73
or you can contact
the people in your local
00:27:44.77\00:27:46.77
church or conference.
00:27:46.80\00:27:47.88
This research that's done today
can help not only you but it can
00:27:47.92\00:27:53.27
help many other people.
00:27:53.31\00:27:54.83
So take it serious and
thank you for joining us.
00:27:54.86\00:27:57.57