Can anyone remember the name of this study?


#1

It was a study where the researchers never published, or buried the results in some obscure journal because they didn’t get the results they expected/wanted with regards to low carb/high fat. Might’ve had something to do with Minnesota??


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

The Minnesota Coronary Study. Ancel Keys and Ivan Franz were the principal investigators. Keys had his name removed from the study when the results failed to support his diet-heart hypothesis (i.e., that eating saturated fat causes heart attacks), and Franz withheld publication for something like seventeen years, because, as he told Gary Taubes, “the results were just so disappointing.” In fact, the results showed an inverse correlation between cholesterol level and cardiovascular disease.

The study was eventually published, but I’ve forgotten which journal they submitted it to. I know the study can be found on PubMed, but I no longer remember whether the full text is available online, or not.

The public radio programme, This American Life did a segment on the discovery of the original data-entry computer tapes in Franz’s basement after his death, when his son was cleaning out the house.


#3

PAUL! You’re a hero! :pray::pray::pray:


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

:bowing_man::bowing_man::bowing_man:


(Andrew M.) #5

A number of articles were published (e.g., 1981, 1989. 1998).

A good place to start is the article in the BMJ (which is freely available):

Ramsden, C. E., et al. (2016). "Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73)." BMJ 353 : i1246.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the traditional diet-heart hypothesis through recovery and analysis of previously unpublished data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment (MCE) and to put findings in the context of existing diet-heart randomized controlled trials through a systematic review and meta-analysis. DESIGN: The MCE (1968-73) is a double blind randomized controlled trial designed to test whether replacement of saturated fat with vegetable oil rich in linoleic acid reduces coronary heart disease and death by lowering serum cholesterol. Recovered MCE unpublished documents and raw data were analyzed according to hypotheses prespecified by original investigators. Further, a systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials that lowered serum cholesterol by providing vegetable oil rich in linoleic acid in place of saturated fat without confounding by concomitant interventions was conducted. SETTING: One nursing home and six state mental hospitals in Minnesota, United States. PARTICIPANTS: Unpublished documents with completed analyses for the randomized cohort of 9423 women and men aged 20-97; longitudinal data on serum cholesterol for the 2355 participants exposed to the study diets for a year or more; 149 completed autopsy files. INTERVENTIONS: Serum cholesterol lowering diet that replaced saturated fat with linoleic acid (from corn oil and corn oil polyunsaturated margarine). Control diet was high in saturated fat from animal fats, common margarines, and shortenings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Death from all causes; association between changes in serum cholesterol and death; and coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial infarcts detected at autopsy. RESULTS: The intervention group had significant reduction in serum cholesterol compared with controls (mean change from baseline -13.8%v-1.0%; P<0.001). Kaplan Meier graphs showed no mortality benefit for the intervention group in the full randomized cohort or for any prespecified subgroup. There was a 22% higher risk of death for each 30 mg/dL (0.78 mmol/L) reduction in serum cholesterol in covariate adjusted Cox regression models (hazard ratio 1.22, 95% confidence interval 1.14 to 1.32; P<0.001). There was no evidence of benefit in the intervention group for coronary atherosclerosis or myocardial infarcts. Systematic review identified five randomized controlled trials for inclusion (n=10,808). In meta-analyses, these cholesterol lowering interventions showed no evidence of benefit on mortality from coronary heart disease (1.13, 0.83 to 1.54) or all cause mortality (1.07, 0.90 to 1.27). CONCLUSIONS: Available evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that replacement of saturated fat in the diet with linoleic acid effectively lowers serum cholesterol but does not support the hypothesis that this translates to a lower risk of death from coronary heart disease or all causes. Findings from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment add to growing evidence that incomplete publication has contributed to overestimation of the benefits of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid.