THE FRENCH PARADOX: LESSONS for Heart: First Published As 10.1136/Heart.90.1.107 on 15 December 2003
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Coronary disease THE FRENCH PARADOX: LESSONS FOR Heart: first published as 10.1136/heart.90.1.107 on 15 December 2003. Downloaded from OTHER COUNTRIES Jean Ferrie`res 107 Heart 2004;90:107–111 ‘‘Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises’’ —Samuel Butler he French paradox is the observation of low coronary heart disease (CHD) death rates despite high intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.12 The French paradox concept was Tformulated by French epidemiologists3 in the 1980s. France is actually a country with low CHD incidence and mortality (table 1). The mean energy supplied by fat was 38% in Belfast and 36% in Toulouse in 1985–86.4 More recently, in 1995–97, the percentage of energy from fat was 39% in Toulouse according to a representative population survey. c THE FRENCH PARADOX AND CAUSES OF DEATH The first source of error could come from an underestimated CHD mortality. According to this hypothesis, French physicians may not declare all the CHD deaths as CHD. If standardised data— for example those provided by the MONICA (monitoring of trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease) project—are used, the results concerning CHD attack and mortality rates show that France is at a low risk for CHD (table 1). Under certification of CHD deaths in France is a possible bias, but after correction, it remains a low bias. Thus, validated data on CHD mortality and incidence show that France is characterised by CHD risk, corroborating the first part of the French paradox definition. http://heart.bmj.com/ THE FRENCH PARADOX AND SATURATED FAT In correlation studies, measures that represent characteristics of an entire population (consumption of animal fat, daily milk, and alcohol) are used to describe disease (CHD mortality). Limitations of correlational studies are the inability to link exposure with disease in particular individuals, the lack of ability to control the effects of potential confounding factors, and the use of average exposure levels rather than actual individual values. Numerous correlation studies have been carried out in various countries concerning the relation between consumption on September 26, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. of fat and CHD mortality.12 In one of the most interesting ones, Artaud-Wild and colleagues examined the relation of CHD mortality to the intake of foodstuffs and nutrients in 40 countries.2 After having defined a cholesterol–saturated fat index (CSI), they studied the relation between the CSI and CHD mortality (per 100 000 men aged 55–64 years) for all 40 countries (fig 1). France had a CSI of 24 per 1000 kcal and a CHD mortality rate of 198, whereas Finland had a CSI of 26 per 1000 kcal and a CHD mortality rate of 1031. In the seven countries study, 12 763 men from 16 cohorts in seven countries were examined for CHD risk factors in 1958. Information on diet was collected by use of seven day food records.5 The average consumption of animal food groups, with the exception of fish, was positively associated with 25 year CHD mortality rates. Furthermore, the average population intake of saturated fat was strongly related to 10 and 25 year CHD mortality rates. It is interesting to compare the World Health Organization dietary recommendations for saturated fat (, 10% of total energy) with actual intakes in France. In representative cross _________________________ sectional surveys of the French population performed in 1986–87 and 1995–97, the saturated fat Correspondence to: intake was 15% of the total energy intake in the first survey and 16% in the latter survey. This Professor Jean Ferrie`res, high consumption of saturated fatty acids is such that French subjects are exposed to a high risk Department of Epidemiology, INSERM U558, University of CHD. Why a high consumption of saturated fatty acids does not lead to a high CHD risk in School of Medicine, 37, alle´es France (and maybe elsewhere) is a central question behind the French paradox concept. The Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse cedex, France; [email protected] French paradox is a way of presenting provocative results from epidemiological studies and does _________________________ not take into account causality between risk factors and CHD mortality. www.heartjnl.com EDUCATIONINHEART Table 1 Age standardised coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and event rate in selected European regions (men, aged 35–64 years) Heart: first published as 10.1136/heart.90.1.107 on 15 December 2003. Downloaded from Official CHD mortality CHD mortality per Coronary events Population rate per 100000* 100000À per 100 000` Glasgow (UK) 332 365 777 Belfast (UK) 280 279 695 108 Lille (northern France) 89 172 298 Strasbourg (north eastern France) 80 141 292 Toulouse (south western France) 53 91 233 Barcelona (north eastern Spain) 63 76 210 *Based on death certificate enumeration. ÀFatal events included definite, possible, and unclassifiable (mainly sudden deaths with no available diagnostic information) coronary deaths. `Coronary events included non-fatal events (definite myocardial infarction) and fatal events. THE FRENCH PARADOX AND WINE DRINKING on all the studies dealing with the relations between alcohol Even if causality is not part of the French paradox, some and CHD.6 The only clear message is that moderate alcohol authors have put forward several hypotheses in order to drinking (two or three times a day) has a protective effect explain it. Debates have focused on alcohol consumption and, against CHD. Alcohol intake raises high density lipoprotein more specifically, on red wine. A superficial investigation of (HDL) cholesterol concentrations and approximately 50% of the lifestyles of south European countries, characterised by the risk reduction attributable to alcohol consumption is low CHD incidence, confirms wine as one of their common explained by changes in HDL cholesterol. However, the identifying elements. In a seminal paper,1 Renaud and De differential effects of wine, beer, and spirits have been Lorgeril compared age standardised annual mortality from examined. European research carried out in France and CHD and related risk factors in MONICA populations, Denmark has shown that wine consumption has been including the French centres. The mean serum total associated with a decrease of 24–31% in all cause mortality; cholesterol concentrations were similar in France, in the little to moderate wine drinking leads to lower mortality from USA, and the UK. After having performed a regression cardiovascular disease than an equivalent consumption of analysis between death rate from CHD and consumption of beer or spirits.7 dairy fat and wine, these authors concluded that the French Which mechanisms are responsible for the potential paradox may be caused by a high consumption of wine. Their different effects of the various types of alcohol? We have to article has started a long series of research studies analysing turn towards current theories on atherogenesis. The domi- the relation between wine and CHD. nant theory is the oxidative modification hypothesis. Final results do depend on the cultural background of the Oxidised lipids, especially phospholipids, generated during countries where they have been carried out. The most striking low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation or within oxidatively illustration is the classic contrast between cultures with stressed cells, are the triggers for many of the events seen in http://heart.bmj.com/ moderate and regular alcohol consumption and those where developing lesions.8 Flavonoids are components of a wide ‘‘binge’’ drinking is common. It would take too long to report variety of edible plants, fruit, and vegetables and of beverages such as tea, coffee, beer, and wine. In vitro, inhibition of LDL oxidation by flavonoids derived from red wine has been demonstrated. In men, consumption of red wine with meals reduces the susceptibility of human plasma and LDL to lipid peroxidation. Red wine contains a variety of polyphenols on September 26, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. derived from grape skins. In free living subjects,9 concentra- tion of catechin in plasma was threefold higher in a diet with fruit and vegetables but without wine, than a diet without fruit, vegetables, and wine, and fourfold higher than in the latter in a diet with red wine but without vegetables and fruit. It seems that red wine and the Mediterranean diet may confer an additional protective effect. It is possible that, after adjustment for total alcohol intake, wine consumption might be associated with a more favourable lipid profile than beer consumption: higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides and fibrinogen concentrations. Indeed, alcohol consumption and associated lifestyles may have an effect on CHD above and beyond their impact on lipids. The impact on haemostasis has also been debated.16In the Caerphilly prospective heart disease study, platelet aggrega- tion induced by adenosine diphosphate was inhibited in subjects who drank alcohol. Furthermore, in the Western Figure 1 Plot of death rate from coronary heart disease (1977) group of the Lyon diet heart study, there was an inverse correlated with daily dietary intake (from 1976 to 1978) of cholesterol relation between ethanol (wine represented 88% of total and saturated fat as expressed by the cholesterol fat index (CSI) per ethanol) and ex vivo platelet aggregation; this correlation 1000 kcal. Reproduced from Artaud-Wild et al,2 with permission. was absent in the Mediterranean group. Platelet aggregation www.heartjnl.com EDUCATIONINHEART was low and the same in both groups, suggesting that platelet rates reported by MONICA centres in Glasgow and Belfast aggregation was low in the Mediterranean group because of and similar to rates reported by MONICA centres in France Heart: first published as 10.1136/heart.90.1.107 on 15 December 2003. Downloaded from the diet (rich in a linolenic acid) and in the Western group and northern Italy. France has actually low CHD incidence (diet relatively rich in saturated fat) because of wine.