Even experts aren't always sensible, but perhaps that sometimes helps them make new discoveries,
Talking of polar bears reminded me of this story about Dr Hugh SInclair, a rather eccentric academic who pioneered work on fatty acids and vitamins.
Two visiting cardiovascular experts stayed at his house for an Oxford meeting.
At breakfast next morning they noticed, 'he had some filthy stuff that he was drinking, which he said was tea. Well, it wasn’t tea, it was seal oil. The kitchen, because Hugh lived alone, was filthy( I'm quoting here)) and the female researcher, Elspeth, ' having inspected it, demanded to know what was in the fridge. Hugh was forced,very reluctantly, to find a key. Having spotted an ice pick hanging by the side of the fridge, Elspeth and Hugh opened it and inside was a frozen seal, at which he had been picking away.'
A bit odd, but he was a known eccentric and maybe he was trying to prove something about the benefits of seal oil.
But the story doesn't end there. A few months later Dr Sinclair was supposed to have a liver biopsy, his doctor tested his bleeding time and found it to be 60 minutes. He phoned his cardiovascular friend. 'What did he think?'
‘Well, you do what you like, Hugh, but it will be the last time you will be talking to me, or anybody else for that matter.’
Seal meat is a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids and we now know that one of the effects of an overdose of omega 3 is to increase bleeding time. Normal bleeding times are apparently between 2 and 9 minutes .
He didn’t have the biopsy. We aren't told whether or not he gave up eating seal.
So on your next trip to the artic remember to avoid the polar bear liver and not to eat too much seal
:lol:
story taken from Wellcome Trust witness seminar on the history of cholesterol and cardiovascular research in the UK 1950–2000