Event: Rod Jackson @ U of T – May 3rd, 2017, 11:00am
Written by: Nicholas Fazio
Shortly after graduating from medical school, University of Auckland’s Professor Rod Jackson leapt fully into the arena of cardiovascular epidemiology. Over 265 peer-reviewed papers later, Professor Jackson finds himself circling again the hotly contested topic of coronary heart disease, which was the focus of his recent talk at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
His presentation on Wednesday featured mostly good news: the relative change in coronary heart disease risk has unilaterally declined over the past decades in both Canada and New Zealand. This includes a sharp drop in the 1950s, which Jackson cautiously attributes to the introduction of a modern convenience known as the “fridge”, which lessened our reliance on salt as a preservative.
But Professor Jackson also warned attendees. First, about the folly of underestimating ecological health data, which he views as uniquely useful in this field, and second, about the recent and questionable conviction among the general public that saturated fats (like butter) are significantly better for an individual than, say, sugar.
And yes, Jackson also supplied a much-desired answer to the talk’s titular query: heart attacks are not disappearing, they are simply being delayed and sub-diagnosed. This, says Jackson, is what accounts for the drop in heart attack prevalence in New Zealand, which sees roughly half of its population medicalized through regular consumption of heart pills by age 65.
Professor Jackson’s thoughts on mass health hovered, too, over the so-called “obesity epidemic.” Jackson pointed to data indicating that “we’re getting fatter slowly”—a phenomenon he attributes to gradual, global BMI increase.
The spirited, quick-witted and passionate inquiry into where, in fact, all the heart attacks have gone, ended with some intriguing speculation about the nature of New Zealand and Canada’s cuisines. These two countries acted as the primary case studies of Jackson’s talk, and share a lot of similarities, the most crucial of which are their relatively shallow culinary traditions—something almost all English-speaking countries have in common.
It was a blistering hour-and-some, but always captivating. Professor Jackson’s hypotheses will likely ring in the back of attendees’ minds as they disperse once again into their health-science workplaces.
For upcoming events at the DLSPH, keep an eye on our events calendar.