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The proof of the ...

A cursory e xamination of the literat ure will where v er y ou t urned there w ere chips, people died from all causes compared to 106 quickly demonstrate that has one of cheese, and party pies galore. I once thought ta k i n g p r avas ta t i n over a p e r i o d o f 5 yea r s . 2 the highest rates of cardio v ascular disease in I espied a v egetable, but f ound it w as act ually Each one of these numbers represents grief Europe.1 I n fac t , o n e o f t h e g r o u n d b r e a k i n g some plastic imitation lett uce on the bottom and loss for all of these western Scot tish s tud i e s i n t h e r e d u c t i o n o f ch o l e s t e r o l wa s of a plate of rolls! fa m i l i e s , a n d ye t t h e s e s o - c a l l e d ‘ n u m b e r s’ the Univ ersity of Glasgo w’s West of Scotland My later suspicions on Scot tish dietary have resulted in the saving of many lives C o r o n a ry Preven t i o n S tud y ( WO S C O P S ) . 2 In hazards were confirmed upon a visit to throughout the w orld through the introduction the past, whene v er I thought of trials it w as t h e I s l e o f S k ye. I s t ayed i n a b e a u t i f u l b e d of new treatments. Now whenever I look a b o u t t h e n u m b e r o f s u b j e c t s a n d p v alues and breakf ast r un b y a nativ e Sky e w oman, at the ‘n’ of a trial, I think about those souls – until one day on a recent visit to Celtic Mrs MacDonald, who cooked the most who volunteer their time in the name of S c o t l a n d I l e a r n e d h ow s c i e n c e r e f l e c t s t h e m a g n i f i c e n t b r e a k fas t t h a t I h a d ever e a t e n ev i d e n c e d b a s e d m e d i c i n e t o h e l p i m p r ove da y -to-da y liv es of real people. in m y life. After a health y muesli breakf ast, I the lot of us all... all thanks to some Scottish O n e S a tur d ay a ft e r n o o n I wa s i nv i t e d t o indulged in eggs, and white pudding . white pudding! ‘high tea’ with people who had gathered from Health y? No. Delicious? Absolutely! R onald McCo y all o v er Scotland f or a Gaelic language music I h a d f i r s t e n j oyed b l a ck p u d d i n g , a n d i t s R eferences festiv al in the majestic city of Perth in central close relativ e the white pudding, while visiting 1. The Scottish Health Survey. Scottish Executive Scotland. (Traditional Scottish eating patterns the remote Gaelic speaking stronghold on the Department of Health, 1998. A vailable at: www. c o n s i s t e d o f a b i g b r e a k fa s t t o p r e p a r e fo r Scottish island of South Uist. show.scot.nhs.uk/scottishhealthsur vey/sh8–00.html. 2. Sh e p h e rd J , C o b b e S M , Fo rd I , e t a l . Pre ve n t i o n a b u s y wo r k d ay, a s u b s ta n t i a l l u n ch fo r t h e One Sat urda y lunch, this pudding appeared of coronary heart disease with pravastatin in afternoon’s labour, and a little snack in the late on m y plate, and pointing to the fried delicacy men with hypercholesterolemia. N Engl J Med a ft e r n o o n t o war d o ff t h e even i n g h u n g e r s . I ask ed m y kind hosts – in Gaelic: 1995;333:1301–8. ‘High tea’ is basically a more f ormal e xtension ‘Dè tha seo?’ (translation: what’s this?) of the last meal of the da y). ‘ M a r a g g h e a l ,’ r e p l i e d A n n e M a c M i l l a n , t h e S o , a l o n g w i t h a g r o u p o f 6 0 fe l l ow f i d d l e r s lady of the household. I wa s u s h e r e d i n t o t h e S a l u ta t i o n H o t e l i n t h e Now, with my rudimentary Gaelic, h e a r t o f Pe r t h . M a ny S c o t s a n d G a e l s wer e I thought that Anne had said ‘marbh’ a l r e a d y s e a t e d i n t h e l a r g e r e c e p t i o n r o o m ( p r o n o u n c e d M A R - AV ) m e a n i n g ‘ m u r d e r’. I including a group of pipers who had just s o o n r e a l i s e d t h a t s h e s a i d M A R - AG , w h i ch r e tu r n e d f r o m p l ay i n g a t a ru g by m a t ch . I n o t i c e d means pudding (gheal meaning ‘white ’). o n t h e i r t a b l e h u g e p l a t e s o f c a ke s a n d s c o n e s Was this closer to the truth? In that a n d wa s d e s p o n d e n t l y t h i n k i n g a b o u t t h e i r moment, I gained a new realisation of p o t e n t i a l i m p a c t u p o n my a r t e r i a l va s c u l a tu r e . the WOSCOPS . I a s ked H a n n a h , a you n g S c o tt i s h f i d d l e r A s a GP, I often read the results of clinical sit ting opposite me: ‘Is high tea trials from around the world and see the and cak es?’ symbol 'n', whic h equals the number of ‘Och, nae ’, she said. ‘T here ’ll be fish and participants. But what does this 'n' really chips too!’ mean in human terms? I s p e n t t h e even i n g w i t h t h i s g r o u p , a n d For the WOSCOPS , n=6959, of which 135

492 3R eprinted from A ustralian F amily Ph ysician Vol. 34, No. 6, J une 2005 Professional practice: The proof of the pudding...

Reprinted from Australian Family Physician Vol. 34, No. 6, June 2005 4 493