From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri May 23 2003 - 21:29:41 MDT
Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> I cut-and-paste this raw data. There should be no typos.
> Some of the numbers look strange
Thanks.
These numbers are actually very interesting!
To summarize:
1) The researchers took measurements three times to compare the low-carb
diet to the low-fat diet: at 3 months, at 6 months, and at 12 months.
2) They measured ten different parameters:
weight,
systolic blood pressure,
diastolic blood pressure,
triglycerides,
total cholesterol,
LDL,
HDL,
AUC for glucose,
AUC for insulin,
insulin sensitivity
3) Of the ten parameters measured, only the differences in ONE of them was
statistically significant in all tests: HDL.
HDL was better after the low-carb vs the low-fat diet at 3 months, at 6
months and at 12 months. No other parameter was so clearly different from
one diet to the other.
As we've discussed here previously, serum levels of high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) are inversely associated with risk of heart disease. The
interpretation of the other nine parameters may be open to debate, but the
low-carb diet shows a lower risk of heart disease at 3, 6 and 12 months.
That much is not open to debate.
You have argued that total cholesterol showed a tendency to increase on
Atkins, but take a look at the numbers: they are totally irrelevant! The .1
increase in total cholesterol after 12 months of Atkins is negligible. It is
ridiculously insignificant, especially considering the 11 point increase in
the healthy HDL form of cholesterol.
-gts
> Here are the results given in "Table 2. Percent Changes in
> Weight, Blood Pressure, Serum Lipoprotein Concentrations,
> and Oral Glucose Tolerance in an Analysis in Which Base-Line
> Values Were Carried Forward in the Case of Missing Data.*"
>
> "*" character after the table title is an asterisk footnote symbol
> "?" character after "P Value " is a double-dagger
> footnote symbol
> "?" character after values is double-dagger footnote symbol
> "?" character after "Insulin sensitivity" is a section footnote
> symbol "?" character within values is plus/minus symbol
>
> Low-
> Carbohydrate Conventional
> Diet Diet
> Variable (N=33) (N=30) P Value ?
> -------- ------------ ------------ ---------
>
> Weight
> Mo 3 -6.8 ?5.0 ? -2.7 ?3.7 ? 0.001
> Mo 6 -7.0 ?6.5 ? -3.2 ?5.6 ? 0.02
> Mo 12 -4.4 ?6.7 ? -2.5 ?6.3 ? 0.26
>
> Systolic blood pressure
> Mo 3 -2.6 ?11.2 -0.6 ?11.9 0.59
> Mo 6 -2.3 ?11.7 1.0 ?12.2 0.28
> Mo 12 -1.0 ?9.4 1.7 ?11.8 0.43
>
> Diastolic blood pressure
> Mo 3 -3.0 ?13.4 -3.5 ?10.3 ? 0.84
> Mo 6 -4.0 ?12.7 ? -2.9 ?14.2 0.84
> Mo 12 -3.7 ?12.4 ? -3.8 ?13.2 0.84
>
> Triglycerides
> Mo 3 -18.7 ?25.7 ? 1.1 ?34.6 0.01
> Mo 6 15.0 ?29.4 ? -7.6 ?19.3 ? 0.13
> Mo 12 -17.0 ?23.0 ? 0.7 ?37.7 0.04
>
> Total cholesterol
> Mo 3 1.7 ?15.0 -5.4 ?10.1 ? 0.03
> Mo 6 2.4 ?9.3 -2.4 ?9.5 0.06
> Mo 12 0.1 ?9.8 -2.9 ?8.0 0.27
>
> Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
> Mo 3 5.4 ?19.2 -7.4 ?16.6 ? 0.007
> Mo 6 2.7 ?12.8 -1.5 ?15.8 0.34
> Mo 12 0.31 ?16.6 -3.1 ?12.0 0.52
>
> High-density lipoprotein cholesterol
> Mo 3 9.6 ?19.1 ? 1.4 ?16.1 0.04
> Mo 6 14.7 ?20.5 ? 2.5 ?12.0 0.007
> Mo 12 11.0 ?19.4 ? 1.6 ?11.1 0.04
>
> Area under the glucose curve
> Mo 3 6.7 ?20.7 1.6 ?16.6 0.27
> Mo 6 1.0 ?15.9 -0.8 ?12.2 0.80
> Mo 12 3.2 ?16.2 1.2 ?10.1 0.80
>
> Area under the insulin curve
> Mo 3 -14.1 ?27.6 ? -11.2 ?40.5 ? 0.48
> Mo 6 -14.7 ?25.7 ? -5.1 ?35.8 0.19
> Mo 12 -11.2 ?24.7 ? -8.2 ?28.4 ? 0.60
>
> Insulin sensitivity ?
> Mo 3 6.7 ?11.6 ? 4.1 ?10.7 0.37
> Mo 6 5.8 ?12.0 ? 5.2 ?10.3 ? 0.79
> Mo 12 2.9 ?9.5 2.9 ?9.5 0.92
>
> *Plus -minus values are means ?SD.
> ?P values are for the differences between the two groups.
> ?P<0.05 for the difference from base line within the group.
> ?Insulin sensitivity was calculated according to the
> quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index.16
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri May 23 2003 - 21:39:56 MDT