HAVING worked through up to 13,000 heart by passes as a cardiac surgeon, Dublin consultant Mr Maurice Neligan has declared that he honestly doesn't know what causes heart disease. Furthermore, he knows of no health regime which will guarantee prevention of the disease.
Speaking on the subject at Castlebar Library yesterday evening, Dr Neligan remarked that while his views might clash strongly with those of many of his colleagues, he could not support the notion that a healthy lifestyle would promise a healthy heart.
"Everybody considers smoking is bad for us, but if this is the case, why is it that the Japanese, who are the heaviest smokers in the world, have such a low rate of heart disease?
"And why do the Chinese, whose intake of fat is so high, have an incidence of heart disease that is one third of our rate?
"I have seen people who do everything right and then die of heart disease and that is why I am very wary of simplistic notions on prevention", he said.
As the dejected faces of up to 200 people stared at the Irish guru of heart surgery, waiting with bated breath for the secret to a healthy heart, they were sorely disappointed.
"We know for a fact that heart disease is a disease of affluence, that it runs in families and that it is a condition of longevity that will continue to arise as long as people continue to live longer", the good doctor told his audience.
"I do think you should take exercise, that you should not smoke, and that if you have high blood pressure or diabetes or if you are overweight, this should be controlled. Yes, I do believe in all of that, but I am certainly wary of people who say if you don't do this, you will get heart disease. My advice would be to lead a reasonable, normal, moderate life and to forget about your heart."
Dr Neligan said that heart disease was unique in every patient and there was no pattern to the disease or to its prevention that could be adopted collectively by people.
"Everyone's coronary artery is different, almost like a fingerprint, and so it follows that every case of heart disease must be treated differently.
"It is amazing how many people still go to their GP with a heart complaint and say: `Do what you want to me, doctor.' People must ask more questions", he said.
"As it is, we doctors just do as we're told and hope that somewhere down the line a solicitor's letter won't arrive in the door saying, `you never told us this or that'. Communication is a two way thing and we heart surgeons are only plumbers after all", he said.