Atkins not obese, hospital file shows

USA TODAY

Feb. 10, 2004 08:55 PM

http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic...-atkins-ON.html

Diet guru Robert Atkins was not obese at the end of his life, according to a hospital record obtained by USA TODAY from his widow.

Millions of people who follow Atkins' low-carb, meat-lovers' diet were caught off guard by a report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal that the cardiologist weighed 258 at the time of his death and had heart disease. The new document shows that the 6-foot-tall Atkins weighed 195 on admission to the hospital after a fall on April 8, 2003. He went into a coma and died April 17 at age 72.

Atkins' critics say his diet may lead to heart disease and bone or kidney problems. Short-term studies have shown that dieters lose weight on the plan without raising their cholesterol; in fact, they lower some heart-disease risk factors. Long-term research is just beginning.

The Journal cited information from the New York medical examiner suggesting that Atkins had a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and high blood pressure.

In response, Veronica Atkins issued a statement that described in detail her husband's health, acknowledging that he had "some progression of coronary artery disease" including "new blockage of a secondary artery." But she said his heart condition, cardiomyopathy, resulted from a viral infection that weakened his heart and disrupted its normal rhythm, leading to a widely publicized cardiac arrest in 2002. His heart condition was not related to his diet, she said.

Stuart Trager, a surgeon and consultant for the Atkins companies, said Atkins' weight ballooned in the hospital because of fluid retention from organ failure.

The medical examiner's report was supplied to the "Journal" by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism and is among the diet's critics. Director Neal Barnard said the group decided to publicize the report because Atkins' "health history was used to promote his terribly unhealthy eating plan." Atkins' Web site says he had normal coronary arteries.

Keith Ayoob, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association, said the diet doctor "spoon-fed us a diet that's high in saturated fat for a long time. I never recommended it before this, and I certainly wouldn't start anybody on it now."

But Gary Foster, clinical director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said Atkins' condition is irrelevant when it comes to the potential safety and effectiveness of the diet.

Foster is leading government-sponsored research on the Atkins diet. "You need to study diets to see if they are safe and effective," he said. "You don't base your conclusions on the experiences of one person, no matter how famous."