PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE • Postcards The proof of the pudding... A cursory examination of the literature will wherever you turned there were potato chips, people died from all causes compared to 106 quickly demonstrate that Scotland has one of cheese, and party pies galore. I once thought taking pravastatin over a period of 5 years.2 the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in I espied a vegetable, but found it was actually Each one of these numbers represents grief Europe.1 In fact, one of the groundbreaking some plastic imitation lettuce on the bottom and loss for all of these western Scottish studies in the reduction of cholesterol was of a plate of sausage rolls! families, and yet these so-called ‘numbers’ the University of Glasgow’s West of Scotland My later suspicions on Scottish dietary have resulted in the saving of many lives Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS).2 In hazards were confirmed upon a visit to throughout the world through the introduction the past, whenever I thought of trials it was the Isle of Skye. I stayed in a beautiful bed of new treatments. Now whenever I look about the number of subjects and p values and breakfast run by a native Skye woman, 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 Scotland I learned how science reflects the magnificent breakfast that I had ever eaten evidenced based medicine to help improve day-to-day lives of real people. in my life. After a healthy muesli breakfast, I the lot of us all... all thanks to some Scottish One Saturday afternoon I was invited to indulged in eggs, bacon and white pudding. white pudding! ‘high tea’ with people who had gathered from Healthy? No. Delicious? Absolutely! Ronald McCoy all over Scotland for a Gaelic language music I had first enjoyed black pudding, and its References festival in the majestic city of Perth in central close relative 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. Available at: www. consisted of a big breakfast to prepare for Scottish island of South Uist. show.scot.nhs.uk/scottishhealthsurvey/sh8–00.html. 2. Shepherd J, Cobbe SM, Ford I, et al. Prevention a busy workday, a substantial lunch for the One Saturday lunch, this pudding appeared of coronary heart disease with pravastatin in afternoon’s labour, and a little snack in the late on my plate, and pointing to the fried delicacy men with hypercholesterolemia. N Engl J Med afternoon to ward off the evening hungers. I asked my kind hosts – in Gaelic: 1995;333:1301–8. ‘High tea’ is basically a more formal extension ‘Dè tha seo?’ (translation: what’s this?) of the last meal of the day). ‘Marag gheal,’ replied Anne MacMillan, the So, along with a group of 60 fellow fiddlers lady of the household. I was ushered into the Salutation Hotel in the Now, with my rudimentary Gaelic, heart of Perth. Many Scots and Gaels were I thought that Anne had said ‘marbh’ already seated in the large reception room (pronounced MAR-AV) meaning ‘murder’. I including a group of pipers who had just soon realised that she said MAR-AG, which returned from playing at a rugby match. I noticed means pudding (gheal meaning ‘white’). on their table huge plates of cakes and scones Was this closer to the truth? In that and was despondently thinking about their moment, I gained a new realisation of potential impact upon my arterial vasculature. the WOSCOPS. I asked Hannah, a young Scottish fiddler As a GP, I often read the results of clinical sitting opposite me: ‘Is high tea scones trials from around the world and see the and cakes?’ symbol 'n', which equals the number of ‘Och, nae’, she said. ‘There’ll be fish and participants. But what does this 'n' really chips too!’ mean in human terms? I spent the evening with this group, and For the WOSCOPS, n=6959, of which 135 492 3Reprinted from Australian Family Physician Vol. 34, No. 6, June 2005 Professional practice: The proof of the pudding... Reprinted from Australian Family Physician Vol. 34, No. 6, June 2005 4 493.