196 THE CHINA STUDYCHART 9.4: MS DEATH RATE AFTER 144 PATIENTS DIETED
FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS70%
60%
50%
Percent who 40%
died of MS 30 %
20%
10%
0% -t'--............... ----...,---
Poor Dieters Good Dieterslow-saturated fat diet during the earlier stages of their disease, "about
95% ... remained only mildly disabled for approximately thirty years."
Only 5% of these patients died. In contrast, 80 % of the patients with early-
stage MS who consumed the "poor" diet (higher saturated fat) died of MS.
The results from all 144 patients, including those who started the diet
at a later stage of disease, are shown in Chart 9.4.
This work is remarkable. To follow people for thirty-four years is an
exceptional demonstration of perseverance and dedication. Moreover,
if this were a study testing a potential drug, these findings would make
any pharmaceutical manufacturer jingle the coins in his or her pocket.
Swank's first results were published more than a half century ago , 48 then
again^49 and again^50 and again 47 for the next forty years.
More recently, additional studies^42 , 51 , 52 have confirmed and extended
Swank's observations and gradually have begun to place more empha-
sis on cow's milk. These new studies show that consuming cow's milk
is strongly linked to MS both when comparing different countries^52
and when comparing states within the U.S.5 1 Chart 9.5, published by
French researchers, compares the consumption of cow's milk with MS
for twenty-six populations in twenty-four countries. 52
This relationship, which is virtually identical to that for Type 1
diabetes, is remarkable, and it is not due to variables such as the avail-
ability of medical services or geographic latitude. 51 In some studies^52 , 53
researchers suggest this strong correlation with fresh cow's milk might