RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PORK CONSUMPTION AND CIRRHOSIS

An investigation of the relationship between per-caput consumption of total fat, beef, and pork in several countries and mortality rates for cirrhosis showed a correlation between alcohol consumption and cirrhosis mortality of 0·64 (p<0·01), and a correlation between pork consumption and cirrhosis mortality of 0·40 (p<0·05). The correlation between cirrhosis mortality and the product of both alcohol and pork consumption was highly significant (r=0·98, p<0·001). In countries with low alcohol consumption, no correlation was obtained between alcohol consumption and cirrhosis. However, a significant correlation was obtained between cirrhosis and pork. A similar relationship was seen in the ten Canadian provinces, where there was no correlation between cirrhosis mortality and alcohol consumption, but a significant correlation was obtained with pork.