Dietary patterns affect risk of Alzheimer's disease

By David Liu

A new Polish study published in the April 6, 2009 issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggest that dietary patterns affect the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

The study led by Gustaw-Rothenberg K. at Case Western Reserve University showed the plant-based foods were associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's while animal-based foods were correlated with high risk.

For the case-control study, Gustaw-Rothenberg K. and colleagues analyzed dietary data on 12 groups of foods collected from 71 people aged 55 or older with Alzheimer’s disease and 71 age-and-gender-matched healthy people as controls.

The results of Factor Analysis, the statistic method used in the study, showed that the dietary pattern for the Alzheimer's group was characterized by a high intake of meat, butter, high-fat dairy products, eggs, and refined sugar.

On the contrary, the dietary pattern for the healthy people was characterized by a high intake of grains and vegetables.

The study report says "These data indicate the existence of dietary patterns defined by factor analysis with data from a food frequency questionnaire, characteristic for Alzheimer's disease in a Polish population."

Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia among older people, affects millions of Americans and there is no cure for the disease. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life.