Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T20:46:13.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Response to Ravnskov et al. on saturated fat and CHD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Jan I. Pedersen ,
Kaare R. Norum ,
Philip T. James ,
Ingeborg A. Brouwer ,
Martijn B. Katan ,
Robert Clarke ,
Ibrahim Elmadfa ,
Penny M. Kris-Etherton ,
Daan Kromhout  and
Barrie M. Margetts
...Show all authors
Jan I. Pedersen
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, POB 1046, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway, email j.i.pedersen@medisin.uio.no
Kaare R. Norum
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, POB 1046, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway, email j.i.pedersen@medisin.uio.no
Philip T. James
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
Ingeborg A. Brouwer
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, VU University, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Martijn B. Katan
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, VU University, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Robert Clarke
Affiliation:
Clinical Trial Service Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Ibrahim Elmadfa
Affiliation:
Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Penny M. Kris-Etherton
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Daan Kromhout
Affiliation:
Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, 6700 EV, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Barrie M. Margetts
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK
Ronald P. Mensink
Affiliation:
Department of Human Biology, School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Mike Rayner
Affiliation:
British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Matti Uusitupa
Affiliation:
Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition, Kuopio Campus, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Type
Letter to the editor
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 107 , Issue 3 , 14 February 2012 , pp. 458 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2011

We thank Dr Ravnskov and colleagues(Reference Ravnskov, Diamond and Karatay1) for their interest in our editorial. Ravnskov et al. appear to ignore the large number of controlled metabolic studies relating fatty acid intake to plasma total and LDL-cholesterol as well as the overwhelming evidence that LDL is causally related to the atherosclerotic process.

The issues that Ravnskov et al. raise were raised earlier in sixty-two Letters to the Editor, which Dr Ravnskov has published about lipids and heart disease in the past 20 years(Reference Ravnskov2–Reference Ravnskov63). His letters have appeared in JAMA, the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, the Lancet, Science, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Internal Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, the International Journal of Cardiology, Circulation, the Quarterly Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular diseases, several Scandinavian medical journals, and now in the British Journal of Nutrition.

All these letters argue essentially the same point, namely that lowering blood cholesterol levels is of unproven value. We refer readers to the responses of dozens of reputable scientists set out in each journal's Letters section, where they have carefully responded to Dr Ravnskov's letters and shown that, by and large, Ravnskov's arguments are faulty.

References

1 Ravnskov, U, Diamond, D, Karatay, MCE, et al. (2011) No Scientific support for linking dietary saturated fat to CHD. Br J Nutr 107, 455–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Ravnskov, U (1991) Are polyunsaturated fats useful? Läkartidningen 88, 1058, 1060.Google ScholarPubMed
3 Ravnskov, U (1992) What is the correct answer in the cholesterol debate? Ugeskr Laeg 154, 1716–1718.Google ScholarPubMed
4 Ravnskov, U (1992) Frequency of citation and outcome of cholesterol lowering trials. BMJ 305, 717.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5 Ravnskov, U (1993) Cardiovascular disease in developing countries. BMJ 306, 145–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6 Ravnskov, U (1993) Doubtful advices on cholesterol screening in children. Ugeskr Laeg 155, 1886–1887.Google ScholarPubMed
7 Ravnskov, U (1993) Reducing serum cholesterol. Lower cholesterol of doubtful benefit to anyone. BMJ 307, 125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8 Ravnskov, U (1993) New trends from the USA. The cholesterol campaign is questioned. Läkartidningen 90, 2528–2529.Google ScholarPubMed
9 Ravnskov, U (1993) Coronary atherosclerosis on angiography–progress or regress, and why? Circulation 88, 1358–1360; author reply 1356–1357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10 Ravnskov, U (1993) Decreased cholesterol level shortens life. Ugeskr Laeg 155, 3679–3680.Google ScholarPubMed
11 Ravnskov, U (1993) Stop the cholesterol campaign!. Läkartidningen 90, 4587–4588; discussion 4589–4590.Google ScholarPubMed
12 Ravnskov, U (1994) Ischaemic heart disease and cholesterol. Optimism about drug treatment is unjustified. BMJ 308, 1038, 1041.Google ScholarPubMed
13 Ravnskov, U (1994) Do polyunsaturated fats cause male sterility? Läkartidningen 91, 2308.Google ScholarPubMed
14 Ravnskov, U (1994) Uncritical review of articles on cholesterol. Ugeskr Laeg 156, 4479–4480.Google ScholarPubMed
15 Ravnskov, U (1994) Doing the right thing: stop worrying about cholesterol. Circulation 90, 2572–2573; author reply 2573–2577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16 Ravnskov, U (1994) Is intake of trans-fatty acids and saturated fat causal in coronary heart disease? Circulation 90, 2568–2569; author reply 2573–2577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17 Ravnskov, U (1994) What do angiographic changes after cholesterol lowering mean? Lancet 344, 1297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18 Ravnskov, U (1995) Fatty acids and confusing signals. Ugeskr Laeg 157, 1534–1535.Google ScholarPubMed
19 Ravnskov, U (1995) The Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S): hasty conclusions. Ugeskr Laeg 157, 2165–2166.Google ScholarPubMed
20 Ravnskov, U (1995) Implications of 4S evidence on baseline lipid levels. Lancet 346, 181.Google ScholarPubMed
21 Ravnskov, U (1995) Beneficial effects of simvastatin may be due to non-lipid actions. BMJ 311, 1436–1437.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22 Ravnskov, U (1996) Do cholesterol-lowering drugs cause cancer? Läkartidningen 93, 2040.Google ScholarPubMed
23 Ravnskov, U (1996) American College of Physicians guidelines on cholesterol screening. Ann Intern Med 125, 1010–1011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24 Ravnskov, U (1998) Experts ask for priorities when it comes to interpretation. Ravnskov answers in the debate on dietary fats. Läkartidningen 95, 1022–1023.Google ScholarPubMed
25 Ravnskov, U (1998) On honesty and monounsaturated fat. Läkartidningen 95, 4966.Google ScholarPubMed
26 Ravnskov, U (1999) Misleading cholesterol statistics. Läkartidningen 96, 1947, 1949.Google ScholarPubMed
27 Ravnskov, U (1999) Why heart disease mortality is low in France. Authors' hypothesis is wrong. BMJ 319, 255–256.Google ScholarPubMed
28 Ravnskov, U (2000) Prevention of atherosclerosis in children. Lancet 355, 69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29 Ravnskov, U (2000) VAT and fat. Evidence is contradictory. BMJ 320, 1470.Google ScholarPubMed
30 Ravnskov, U (2001) Too optimistic view in mass media on statin treatment in acute myocardial infarction. Läkartidningen 98, 2370.Google ScholarPubMed
31 Ravnskov, U (2001) Lipid lowering doesn't affect the development of atherosclerosis in peripheral artery disease. Läkartidningen 98, 4897–4898.Google ScholarPubMed
32 Ravnskov, U (2001) Cholesterol and all-cause mortality in Honolulu. Lancet 358, 1907.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33 Ravnskov, U (2002) Diet–heart disease hypothesis is wishful thinking. BMJ 324, 238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34 Ravnskov, U, Allen, C, Atrens, D, et al. (2002) Studies of dietary fat and heart disease. Science 295, 1464–1466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35 Ravnskov, U (2002) A too optimistic report of a new study on statins. Läkartidningen 99, 949–951.Google Scholar
36 Ravnskov, U (2002) Surrogate research on heart disease and risk factors. Läkartidningen 99, 1507.Google ScholarPubMed
37 Ravnskov, U (2002) Statins as the new aspirin. Conclusions from the heart protection study were premature. BMJ 324, 789.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38 Ravnskov, U (2002) The debate in Science: dietary guidelines against myocardial infarction are defended by wrong citations. Läkartidningen 99, 2673.Google ScholarPubMed
39 Ravnskov, U (2003) Statins increase the risk of cancer among the elderly. Läkartidningen 100, 974.Google ScholarPubMed
40 Ravnskov, U (2003) Lipoproteins and cardiovascular risk. Lancet 361, 1988–1989; author reply 1989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41 Ravnskov, U (2003) ASCOT-LLA: questions about the benefits of atorvastatin. Lancet 361, 1986; author reply 1986–1987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42 Ravnskov, U (2003) Too many calories and too little exercise cause obesity not intake of fat. Läkartidningen 100, 3255–3256; author reply 3256.Google Scholar
43 Ravnskov, U (2003) Dietary fat intake and risk of stroke: allegations about dietary fat are unfounded. BMJ 327, 1348; author reply 1348–1349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
44 Ravnskov, U (2004) Inflammation, cholesterol levels, and risk of mortality among patients receiving dialysis. JAMA 291, 1833–1834; author reply 1834–1835.Google ScholarPubMed
45 Ravnskov, U & Sutter, MC (2004) Aggressive lipid-lowering therapy and regression of coronary atheroma. JAMA 292, 38; author reply 39–40.Google ScholarPubMed
46 Ravnskov, U (2004) Hasty conclusions on cardiac mortality in Norway. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 124, 2153; author reply 2153.Google ScholarPubMed
47 Ravnskov, U (2004) Karl Popper and the cholesterol hypothesis. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 124, 2517.Google Scholar
48 Ravnskov, U, Rosch, PJ & Sutter, MC (2005) Intensive lipid lowering with atorvastatin in coronary disease. N Engl J Med 353, 93–96; author reply 93–96.Google ScholarPubMed
49 Ravnskov, U (2005) Should cholesterol levels be reduced more aggressively? Läkartidningen 102, 2583–2584; discussion 2584.Google ScholarPubMed
50 Ravnskov, U (2005) Europe in transition: dietary fat is not the villain. BMJ 331, 906–907; discussion 907.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
51 Ravnskov, U (2006) Misleading advice on cholesterol reduction. Läkartidningen 103, 568; discussion 569.Google ScholarPubMed
52 Ravnskov, U (2006) Treatment of hypercholesterolemia-lower is not better. Ugeskr Laeg 168, 1665.Google Scholar
53 Ravnskov, U, Rosch, PJ & Sutter, MC (2006) High-dose statins and the IDEAL study. JAMA 295, 2476; author reply 2478–2479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
54 Ravnskov, U (2006) Low carbohydrate diets reduce the need of statin treatment. Läkartidningen 103, 3017; author reply 3017–3018.Google ScholarPubMed
55 Ravnskov, U (2006) Saturated fat does not affect blood cholesterol. Am J Clin Nutr 84, 1550–1551; author reply 1551–1552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
56 Ravnskov, U (2007) Lack of evidence for recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol treatment targets. Ann Intern Med 146, 614; author reply 614–615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
57 Ravnskov, U (2007) Reply to “Cholesterol lowering and mortality: a sea of contradictions”. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 17, e25–e27; author reply e21–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
58 Ravnskov, U (2008) Hypercholesterolaemia. Should medical science ignore the past? BMJ 337, a1681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
59 Ravnskov, U (2008) Re: the association between statins and cancer incidence in a veterans population. J Natl Cancer Inst 100, 972–973; author reply 973–974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
60 Ravnskov, U (2008) Should medical science ignore the past? BMJ 337, a1681–a1681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
61 Ravnskov, U (2009) Is there a reason to take the cholesterol campaign seriously? Läkartidningen 106, 47–48; discussion 48.Google Scholar
62 Ravnskov, U (2010) Statin-induced muscular problems are underestimated. Ugeskr Laeg 172, 1235; author reply 1235.Google ScholarPubMed
63 Ravnskov, U (2011) The doubtful association between blood lipid changes and progression of atherosclerosis. Int J Cardiol 153, 95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed