Salim Yusuf
Salim Yusuf OC FRSC (born 26 November 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian physician, the Marion W. Burke Chair in Cardiovascular Disease at McMaster University Medical School. He is a cardiologist and epidemiologist.[1] Yusuf has criticized the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and disputes the scientific consensus on dietary sodium and saturated fat intake.
Salim Yusuf | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 November 1952 |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | President of the World Heart Federation |
| Awards | Rhodes Scholarship Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Canada Gairdner Wightman Award McLaughlin medal of the Royal Society of Canada |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Beta adrenergic blokade in myocardial infarction (1980) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter Sleight |
Early life and education edit
Born in the town of Kottarakkara in Kerala, Yusuf studied medicine at St. John's Medical College in Bangalore and earned a DPhil at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar. At Oxford, he also took part in research into cardiovascular disease.
His doctoral thesis was titled "Beta adrenergic blockade in myocardial infarction" and his supervisor was Peter Sleight.[2]
Career edit
In 1984, Yusuf moved to the National Institutes of Health in the United States, where he led clinical trials that showed the value of ACE inhibitors in people with left ventricular dysfunction and the optimal use of digoxin).[1][3] He came to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in 1992 as director of the cardiology division.[1] In 1999 McMaster created the Population Health Research Institute at the Hamilton Health Sciences campus of McMaster, and made Yusuf the director of the center and vice president of research at HHS.[4][3]
From 1999 to 2004, he also held an appointment as a senior scientist at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.[1]
In 2011, he was the world's second-most-cited cardiology researcher,[1] and in 2020, he was the world's most-cited cardiology researcher. Yusuf's large-scale clinical trials have had a significant impact on the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.[1] in particular, he has demonstrated the value of combinations of blood pressure lowering and lipid lowering with statins and of combinations of antiplatelet therapy and joint use of anticoagulants and aspirin in low doses to prevent cardiovascular disease and death.
He was a past president of the World Heart Federation 2015–2016,[5] where he initiated the Emerging Leaders Program which is now named after him.[6]
Dietary views edit
Yusuf disputes the guidelines on saturated fat and dietary sodium intake.[7] In 2017, Yusuf spoke at the Cardiology Update 2017 symposium in which he disputed the saturated fat guidelines whilst admitting he is not an expert in nutrition.[8] He stated that a higher saturated fat intake is protective and eating more dietary carbohydrates is harmful.[8] Yusuf has commented that "saturated fats are not harmful, may even be slightly beneficial but there is no harm", and recommends people to consume high-fat dairy products and unprocessed red meat.[8][9] These ideas were criticized by other medical researchers and nutritionists such as David L. Katz as "bizarre" and "misguided".[8][10]
Yusuf has questioned the consensus on salt and cardiovascular disease and has argued that a low sodium intake does not lower risk of cardiovascular events and mortality but increases it.[11][12] In 2018, he co-authored a controversial paper which argued that sodium intake is associated with cardiovascular disease only in communities where mean intake is greater than 5 g/day.[12] The paper disputes the salt guidelines of the World Health Organization who recommend that populations consume less than 2 g/day as a preventive measure against cardiovascular disease. The paper was widely criticized by the medical community, with the American Heart Association strongly disputing the study as flawed and offering no credible evidence.[11]
In opposition to low-carbohydrate and high-carbohydrate diets, Yusuf advocates moderated carbohydrate consumption.[13]
Honours edit
In 2013, Yusuf was named an Officer in the Order of Canada.[14] He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2014, he was awarded the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.[1]
Selected publications edit
- Yusuf, Salim (2018). "Urinary sodium excretion, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: a community-level prospective epidemiological cohort study". The Lancet. 392 (10146): 496–506. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31376-X.
- Yusuf Salim; Magkos Faidon; Bier Dennis M.; Brenna J. Thomas; de Oliveira Otto Marcia C.; Hill James O.; King Janet C.; Mente Andrew; Ordovas Jose M.; Volek Jeff S.; Astrup Arne (18 August 2020). "Saturated Fats and Health: A Reassessment and Proposal for Food-Based Recommendations". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 76 (7): 844–857. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.077. PMID 32562735.
- Yusuf, Salim; Mente, Andrew; Dehghan, Mahshid (2020). "Diet and health: the need for new and reliable approaches". European Heart Journal. 41 (28): 2641–2644. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa317.
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References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g "Dr. Salim Yusuf". Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. 2014.
- ^ Yusuf, Salim (1980). Yusuf, Salim, (1980). Beta adrenergic blokade in myocardial infarction. DPhil. University of Oxford. Oxford Research Archive (Thesis). University of Oxford.
- ^ a b Semeniuk, Ivan (26 March 2014). "Canada's Salim Yusuf wins prestigious Gairdner award". Globe and Mail.
- ^ "History". PHRI. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- ^ "Our History". World Heart Federation. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ "Professor Salim Yusuf". sjc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ "Is It Time to Loosen Restrictions on Saturated Fats and Salt?". tctmd.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d Phend, Crystal (2 March 2017). "Fat Wars: Diet Docs Have Salim Yusuf in the Cross Hairs". MedPage Today.
- ^ "The more carbs you eat, the higher the risk of heart disease, states leading cardiologist, Dr Salim Yusuf". diabetes.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ . forbes.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ a b American Heart Association strongly refutes study findings on sodium consumption. newsroom.heart.org. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Yet another controversial study claiming salt may not be as bad as once thought". europeanscientist.com. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Both low- and high-carb diets can raise risk of early death, study finds". theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Professor named to Order of Canada". McMaster University. 2 July 2013.
External links edit
- Full text of doctoral thesis via Oxford Research Archive