Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 292, Issue 7570, 28 September 1968, Pages 693-700
The Lancet

ORIGINAL ARTICLES
CONTROLLED TRIAL OF SOYA-BEAN OIL IN MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION: REPORT OF A RESEARCH COMMITTEE TO THE MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(68)90746-0Get rights and content

Abstract

A trial is reported of the value of a serum-cholesterol-lowering diet in the prevention of relapse in men aged under sixty recently recovered from a first myocardial infarction and discharged from four district hospitals in the north and west of London. 199 men randomly allocated to the experimental group were given a diet low in saturated fats and containing 85 g. of soya-bean oil daily; the 194 control patients took their ordinary diet. Both groups weighed their food regularly and a high degree of cooperation was achieved. The shortest individual period in the trial was two years and the longest six and three-quarter years. About half of the men were in the trial for four years or more. The test diet lowered the serum-cholesterol from a mean initial figure of 272 to 213 mg. per 100 ml. at six months (22% fall); the level in the controls fell from 273 to 259 mg. per 100 ml. (6% fall). Suspected relapses were assessed at regular intervals by a review committee unaware of the patient's diet group. 62 men on the test diet suffered at least one relapse during the period of observation compared with 74 of the controls. 40 of the first relapses in the test group were major (i.e., definite reinfarctions or deaths from coronary heart-disease) compared with 39 major first relapses in the controls. The total number of men who had a major relapse at any time in the trial was 45 in the test group and 51 in the controls; of these major relapses 25 in each group were fatal. None of the differences found is significant. Relapses were not related to initial cholesterol level, to change in cholesterol level during the trial, nor, in any consistent way, to observance of the dietary regimen. The results are compared with those from a similar trial in Oslo. There is no evidence from the London trial that the relapse-rate in myocardial infarction is materially affected by the unsaturated fat content of the diet used.

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Cited by (0)

Members of the committee were: Prof. J. N. MORRIS (chairman), M.R.C. Social Medicine Research Unit; Dr. K. P. BALL (secretary), Central Middlesex Hospital; the late Dr. A. ANTONIS, St. George's Hospital, London W.1; Dr. W. W. BRIGDEN (concultant to the trial), The London Hospital, E.1; Dr. C. J. BURNS-COX; Dr. MARY FULTON; Dr. MARGARET HAIGH, M.R.C. Social Medicine Research Unit; Dr. G. J. L. HALL; Dr. EDDA HANINGTON; Dr. J. A. HEADY (statistician to the trial), M.R.C. Social Medicine Research Unit; Dr. P. M. MCALLEN, West Middlesex Hospital; Dr. T. R. E. PILKINGTON, St. George's Hospital, London S.W.1; Dr. G. R. ROYSTON, Barnet General Hospital; Dr. D. E. SHARLAND; Dr. G. S. C. SOWRY, Edgware General Hospital; and Prof. CLIFFORD WILSON (consultant to the trial), The London Hospital, E.1. Mrs. J. A. C. Clarke, Miss E. Hedley, and Mrs. J. Wood were the dietitians. Miss J. W. Marr, M.R.C. Social Medicine Research Unit, advised on dietetic matters and acted as independent observer. Dr. Burns-Cox, Dr. Fulton, Dr. Hall, Dr. Hanington, and Dr. Sharland were the registrars responsible for the day-to-day administration of the trial. Dr. Haigh and Dr. Heady analysed the results and drafted the report.

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