Abstract
During the 1970s, 2 Danish investigators, Bang and Dyerberg, on being informed that
the Greenland Eskimos had a low prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) set out
to study the diet of this population. Bang and Dyerberg described the “Eskimo diet”
as consisting of large amounts of seal and whale blubber (ie, fats of animal origin)
and suggested that this diet was a key factor in the alleged low incidence of CAD.
This was the beginning of a proliferation of studies that focused on the cardioprotective
effects of the “Eskimo diet.” In view of data, which accumulated on this topic during
the past 40 years, we conducted a review of published literature to examine whether
mortality and morbidity due to CAD are indeed lower in Eskimo/Inuit populations compared
with their Caucasian counterparts. Most studies found that the Greenland Eskimos and
the Canadian and Alaskan Inuit have CAD as often as the non-Eskimo populations. Notably,
Bang and Dyerberg's studies from the 1970s did not investigate the prevalence of CAD
in this population; however, their reports are still routinely cited as evidence for
the cardioprotective effect of the “Eskimo diet.” We discuss the possible motives
leading to the misinterpretation of these seminal studies.
Résumé
Au cours des années 70, 2 chercheurs danois, Bang et Dyerberg, ayant été informés
de la faible prévalence de la coronaropathie (CP) chez les « Esquimaux » du Groenland
ont décidé d’étudier le régime alimentaire de cette population. Bang et Dyerberg ont
décrit le « régime alimentaire des Esquimaux » comme étant composé d’une grande quantité
de lard (c.-à-d. de graisses d’origine animale) de phoque et de baleine et ont montré
que ce régime alimentaire était le principal facteur de la faible fréquence présumée
de CP. Cela a servi de précurseur à de nombreuses études, qui ont mis l’accent sur
les effets cardioprotecteurs du « régime alimentaire des Esquimaux ». Au vu des données
ayant été amassées au cours des 40 dernières années, nous avons mené une revue de
la littérature existante sur ce sujet pour examiner si la mortalité et la morbidité
liées à la CP s’avèrent en effet plus faibles chez les populations « esquimaude »
et inuite comparativement à leurs homologues caucasiens. La plupart des études ont
montré que les « Esquimaux » du Groenland et les Inuits du Canada et de l’Alaska souffrent
aussi fréquemment de CP que les populations non « esquimaudes ». Notamment, les études
de Bang et Dyerberg réalisées au cours des années 70 n’ont pas examiné la prévalence
de la CP dans cette population. Cependant, leurs rapports sont encore régulièrement
cités comme preuves de l’effet cardioprotecteur du « régime alimentaire des Esquimaux
». Nous discutons des motifs pouvant mener à la mauvaise interprétation de ces études
fondamentales.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 14, 2014
Accepted:
April 7,
2014
Received:
December 24,
2013
Footnotes
See page 867 for disclosure information.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
