Myocardial Infarction in Patients Treated with Sippy and Other High-Milk Diets

Abstract

A study has been made of the incidence of myocardial infarcts among 3 groups of autopsied patients who were matched for age, sex, race, and place and period of death: (1) patients with peptic ulcers who had been treated with a Sippy diet or milk products, (2) patients with peptic ulcers who were not known to have been so treated, (3) a group consisting of non-ulcer patients matched with the other 2 groups. In the U.S.A. the incidence of myocardial infarcts was more than twice as high in the ulcer patients treated with Sippy diet than it was in either of the other 2 groups. The differences in each case were statistically highly significant. There was no significant difference in the incidence of myocardial infarcts between the ulcer patients not treated with the Sippy diet and the non-ulcer controls. Differences and similarities of the same degree were noted among corresponding groups from Great Britain. It is tempting to think that the high incidence of myocardial infarcts among the Sippy-treated patients was a result of the butter-fat content of their diets. Mere association, however, does not constitute proof and further study is needed before definitive conclusions are drawn.