Mediterranean Diet May Slow Atherosclerosis Progression and Prevent CHD

A Spanish secondary prevention study suggested that Mediterranean diet might reduce neutrophil levels and slow the progression of atherosclerosis and was superior to a low-fat diet in preventing major events of coronary heart disease (CHD). A total of 1002 CHD patients were randomly assigned to follow either a low-fat diet or a Mediterranean diet between 1 October 2009, and 28 February 2012 with a follow-up of 7 years. The mean age was 59·5 years and 82·5% patients were men. The primary endpoint (assessed by intention to treat for a composite of myocardial infarction, revascularization, ischemic stroke, peripheral artery disease, and cardiovascular death) occurred in 198 participants: 87 in the Mediterranean diet group and 111 in the low-fat group with multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios of the different models ranged from 0·719 to 0·753 in favor of the Mediterranean diet. These effects were more evident in men. A pre-specified secondary analysis revealed that increased neutrophils were associated with greater intima-media thickness of common carotid arteries (IMT-CC) both at baseline and after the longitudinal analysis. A linear mixed-effect model analysis from the longitudinal analysis spanning 5 and 7 years revealed an increase in 1 unit of neutrophils/μl at these time points was associated with a mean increase of 0.004 (0.002) mm in the IMT-CC after adjustment for all variables. Nonetheless, adherence to the Mediterranean diet resulted in a reduction in neutrophils among patients who exhibited a decrease in IMT-CC after 7-year follow-up. The findings suggest that a Mediterranean diet is superior to a low-fat diet in preventing major cardiovascular events in CHD patients and reveal a link between neutrophil count and the progression of atherosclerosis. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/; https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/