Mediterranean diet extends life in Alzheimer's

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Add yet another health benefit to eating the Mediterranean way -- the veggie-rich, meat-poor diet may slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease, a study hints.

The more closely Alzheimer's patients adhered to the Mediterranean diet ideal, the longer their lives, Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and colleagues found.

"The magnitude of the effect was considerable," they write in the September 11 issue of Neurology.

The researchers had previously shown that eating a Mediterranean-style diet consisting of lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes and cereals; plenty of unsaturated fatty acids, chiefly olive oil; few dairy products or meat and poultry; a "moderately high" intake of fish; and wine during meals reduced the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

In the current study, they followed 192 people who had been diagnosed with the disease to determine if the diet would affect its progression. Study participants were divided into three groups based on how close their eating habits mirrored the Mediterranean ideal, and were then followed for 4.4 years, during which time 85 percent died.

People in the middle group of Mediterranean diet adherence were 35 percent less likely to die during follow-up than those in the bottom group, which translated to 1.33 more years of life. Those in the highest group for adherence were at 73 percent lower risk of death, and lived nearly four years longer.

"New benefits of this diet keep coming out," Scarmeas noted in a press release accompanying the study. "We need to do more research to determine whether eating a Mediterranean diet also helps Alzheimer's patients have slower rates of cognitive decline, maintain their daily living skills, and have a better quality of life" the investigator added.

SOURCE: Neurology, September 11, 2007.