B. K. Armstrong

BLOOD-PRESSURE-LOWERING EFFECT OF A VEGETARIAN DIET: CONTROLLED TRIAL IN NORMOTENSIVE SUBJECTS

59 healthy, omnivorous subjects aged 25-63 years were randomly allocated to a control group, which ate an omnivorous diet for 14 weeks, or to one of two experimental groups, whose members ate an omnivorous diet for the first 2 weeks and a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet for one of two 6-week experimental periods. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures did not change in the control group but fell significantly in both experimental groups during the vegetarian diet and rose significantly in the experimental group which reverted to the omnivorous diet. Adjustment of the blood-pressure changes for age, obesity, heart rate, weight change, and blood pressure before dietary change indicated a diet-related fall of some 5-6 mm Hg systolic and 2-3 mm Hg diastolic. Although the nutrient(s) causing these blood-pressure changes are unknown, the effects were apparently not mediated by changes in sodium or potassium intake.

Vegetarian diet and blood pressure levels: incidental or causal association?

Evidence that nutrients other than the major cations may influence blood pressure levels stems from studies of acculturated vegetarians and from randomized controlled dietary trials. Earlier studies of vegetarians focused on religious groups and on vegans, making it difficult to know whether their lower blood pressures were due to diet per se or to other aspects of lifestyle. Seventh-day Adventist vegetarians showed significantly less hypertension and lower blood pressures compared with Mormon omnivores, effects which were independent of differences in obesity and not due to altered sodium intake. Subsequently, controlled dietary intervention studies in healthy normotensive omnivores provided more direct evidence for a blood pressure-lowering effect of a lactoovovegetarian diet with reversible changes of 5-6 mm Hg systolic and 2-3 mm Hg diastolic occurring over 6-wk periods. Similar dietary effects in mild hypertensive subjects provides impetus for identifying the responsible nutrients.

Survival from preinvasive and invasive malignant melanoma in Western Australias

The crude and relative survival rates from malignant melanoma of the skin were evaluated in 528 patients diagnosed in Western Australia in 1975–1976. Follow‐up of patients to December 31, 1980 was 96% complete. For invasive malignant melanoma the relative five‐year survival rates were 85% in men and 89% in women, while in cases of preinvasive melanoma both sexes experienced 100% relative five‐year survival. The effects on prognosis of sex, anatomic site, clinical stage, level of invasion and tumor thickness were examined. Invasive melanomas of less than 0.76 mm in thickness also were associated with 100% relative survival. The variation in survival of melanoma patients with geographic location and the relative contributions of early diagnosis and biologic nature to the favorable outcome of melanoma in Australia are discussed.

Estimation of myocardial infarction mortality from routinely collected data in Western Australia

The accuracy of routinely collected mortality data for ischemic heart disease (IHD) as indicators of death from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was assessed in ages 25-64 years, according to the WHO criteria defined in 1983. Cases were identified from computer records (linked for individuals) of all death certificates and hospital discharges in Western Australia between 1971 and 1982. Where the official cause was IHD about 90% of deaths fulfilled the WHO criteria for definite or possible AMI. Up to 10% of fatal cases of definite or possible AMI were coded to other causes in the official death statistics, however it appeared that variations in this figure with changes in coding practices could cause appreciable bias in the estimation of secular trends in IHD mortality. This problem could largely be overcome by reviewing fatal events where the death certificate was coded to one of a limited number of other ICD rubrics.

A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL OF A VEGETARIAN DIET IN THE TREATMENT OF MILD HYPERTENSION

1. The effect of an ovo‐lacto‐vegetarian (OLV) diet on blood pressure was assessed in a randomized, controlled, crossover trial in 58 mild untreated hypertensive subjects recruited from the Perth Centre for the 1983 NHF Risk Factor Prevalence Survey.

Vegetarian diet in mild hypertension: effects of fat and fiber.

Recently, a relatively small reduction in systolic blood pressure (approximately 5 mm Hg) was estimated to substantially reduce the numbers of major coronary events. The blood pressure reduction is about the same as the difference seen between typical ovolactovegetarians and omnivores. This paper reviews the evidence for the blood pressure-lowering effects of a vegetarian diet on those with elevated blood pressure. It also reviews whether the effect on blood pressure of a vegetarian diet can be attributed either to elevation of the dietary P:S ratio or to fiber intake alone.

ALCOHOL AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN A WORKING POPULATION

1. The association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure was studied in 491 Government employees. The men, aged 21–45 years, volunteered to complete a health questionnaire and submitted to standardized measurements of blood pressure, heart rate and body size.

Vegetarian diet and blood pressure.

There is now convincing evidence from epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials that adoption of an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet leads to blood pressure reduction in both normotensive and