Why Eskimos Have Low Heart Disease

Raena Morgan: We're talking with Dr. Dyerberg from Copenhagen. He is an expert in the field of nutrition, particularly where it concerns the heart. Dr. Dyerberg, what was it about the Eskimo population that attracted your attention? Dr. Jorn Dyerberg: Yeah, this is a long and fascinating history. Raena Morgan: It sounds like it. Dr. Jorn Dyerberg: It really is, and it became the privilege of my scientific life to open up a new field of nutritional research which is the Omega-3 Fatty Acids and their effect on health. It started way back in the `70s, I'm an elderly gentleman now. It started way back in the '70s where in our medical journal in Denmark there was a lead paper on the part of Denmark that is Greenland; at that time Greenland was part of Denmark. Nowadays it's sort of a community between the two countries, but that's apart time, Greenland was Danish, and in Greenland does live the Eskimos, or do live the Eskimos, or as they like to be called nowadays the Inuits a Circumpolar group of people. And they had another morbidity and mortality; they had another deceased pattern and reason for dying than Danes. And especially in that lead article it was noted that they had a very low occurrence of coronary heart disease. And we were at the department that I was at that time, deeply involved also in nutrition and human heart diseases. And it was strange that a group of Danes, the Eskimos, living up there north, living from a fatty diet, had a low occurrence of heart disease. Raena Morgan: So, they weren't getting grains, they weren't getting vegetables? Dr. Jorn Dyerberg: No, basically, I mean the original way of living, of course this was in a transition period of course also at that time, but not to the extent of nowadays when westernized society patterns of living is increasing dramatically all over and also amongst the Inuits. But at that time a great part of them lived in the original way, which was from fishing and seal hunting, and seals are mammals with a good portion of fat, like pigs under their skin, to isolate them from the cold seas. So the Eskimos ate what we were told at least a high fat diet. And how come that a population with a high fat diet could have a low number of coronaries, because we knew, at that time too, that a high fat diet increases your cholesterol, and that should be deleterious regarding to occurrence of coronaries. So, what was that enigma, what was the reason for that? And at that time I was a Resident at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry in a hospital in Denmark, and my Chief, Dr. Bang, who unfortunately has passed away now at the age of 84, several years ago said, Oh, let's go up there and see whether we could find out what's the reason was. So, we managed to collect money, it was not very easy because it was sort of a strange idea. I mean, how come we go up there and what could that be good for? But we managed to collect money to establish the foundation for traveling up to Greenland, renting dog sledges, and go out and collect blood samples to find out how come that the Eskimos did not have high coronaries. Raena Morgan: So, this was the question, the ultimate question. Dr. Jorn Dyerberg: The ultimate. Raena Morgan: And you had to raise money to do it, which was not easy. Dr. Jorn Dyerberg: That was difficult. Like I say you, it was a low amount; it was a really basic amount of money for doing an expedition up there. And the first one was in 1970. Raena Morgan: Okay. Well, we will come back and visit some more about your very exciting tale, alright? Thank you Doctor.