Death Rate Reduced Significantly with Mediterranean Diet

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Death Rate Reduced Significantly with Mediterranean Diet

and Healthy Lifestyle

JoAnn Guest

Sep 28, 2004 20:56 PDT

 

DGNews

Death Rate Reduced Significantly Among Older People Who Follow

Mediterranean Diet and Healthy Lifestyle

 

CHICAGO, IL -- September 22, 2004 -- Individuals 70 to 90 years old

who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet and several healthy

lifestyle habits had a more than 50 percent lower death rate than

those who did not, according to a study in the September 22/29 issue

of JAMA.

 

Because of the cumulative effect of adverse factors throughout life,

it is particularly important for older persons to adopt diet and

lifestyle practices that minimize their risk of death from illness

and maximize

their prospects for healthful aging, according to background

information in the article.

 

Dietary patterns and lifestyle factors are associated with death

from all causes, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular

diseases, and cancer, but few studies have investigated these

factors in combination.

 

Kim Knoops, M.Sc., of Wageningen University, the Netherlands and

colleagues investigated the single and combined effect of a

Mediterranean diet (rich in plant foods and fish, low in meat and

dairy

products, and with a high ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to

polyunsaturated fatty acids), being physically active (approximately

30 minutes of activity per day or more), moderate alcohol use, and

nonsmoking on all-cause and cause-specific death in European elderly

individuals. The study, HALE (Healthy Ageing: a Longitudinal study

in

Europe), was conducted between 1988 and 2000 and was comprised of

individuals enrolled in the Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the

Elderly:

a Concerned Action (SENECA) and the Finland, Italy, the

Netherlands, Elderly (FINE) studies. It included 1,507 apparently

healthy men and 832 women, aged 70 to 90 years in 11 European

countries.

 

The researchers found that adhering to a Mediterranean diet was

associated with a 23 percent lower risk of all-cause death; moderate

alcohol use, a 22 percent lower risk; physical activity, a 37

percent

lower risk; and nonsmoking, a 35 percent lower risk.

 

Similar results were observed for death from coronary heart disease,

cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

 

Having all four low risk factors lowered the

all-cause death rate by 65 percent. In total, 60 percent of all

deaths, 64 percent of deaths from coronary heart disease, 61 percent

from

cardiovascular diseases, and 60 percent from cancer were associated

with lack of adherence to this low-risk pattern.

 

Editor's note: This study, based on the HALE project, was supported

by a grant from the European Union (to co-author Mr. Kromhout).

 

SOURCE: JAMA and Archives Journals Website

 

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