Sir, – Prof Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation implicates dietary saturated fats in Northern Ireland as the prime cause “behind the relatively high heart disease rate”, compared to southeast England (Home News, May 8th). He also warned about the escalation of heart failure, compared to a recorded reduction in deaths from heart attack. Critical evidence does not support Prof Pearson’s theory. 1. Saturated fats do not cause heart disease, and may offer much needed heart protection. The real culprits are trans-fats, poly-unsaturated fats and excess sugar, as found in processed “foods”. 2. The comparative lack of natural vitamin D in Northern Ireland, compared to southeast England, is a strong implicating factor for heart disease. 3. The acknowledged escalation of heart failure in the UK (and also the US) has been linked by several researchers to low levels of coenzyme Q10, an essential nutrient for heart disease, and which is depleted by the unwarranted and widespread use of statin drugs in these countries for high cholesterol. The conventional views regarding the causes of heart disease, as espoused by Prof Pearson, are in urgent need of revision. – Yours, etc,
Dr NEVILLE WILSON,
Medical Director,
The Leinster Clinic,
Kilcock Road,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.