The Mediterranean Diet

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Introduction: We live amongst 5.2 million people struggling with dementia in the United States. There have been many trials and studies that have looked for correlations between some nutrients and cognitive decline and dementia. Some of these studies have led us to believe that administering one’s overall dietary pattern may be beneficial in learning about the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. A diet that is widely known to be associated with a decreased risk in both cognitive decline and cardiovascular disease is the Mediterranean Diet. In this research article, the association of the Mediterranean Diet with cognitive decline and cardiovascular disease are examined. Since one population cannot be directly compared to another population…show more content…
A one-way analysis of variance for normally distributed continuous variables was used. For non-normally distributed variables, Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. And Chi-square tests were used for categorical variables. Tertiles were created to be race specific in order to account for the unavailability of standard cutoffs. Linear mixed models were used with a random slope intercept to test for a significant mean difference in the rate of cognitive change by MedDiet score and race. The first multivariate model adjusts for demographic factors and total energy intake, while the full model further adjusts for other variables found to be significant associated with MedDiet score in the study population (body mass index, current smoking, physical activity, depression, diabetes). Alcohol consumption was already included in the MedDiet score, so it was left out to avoid collinearity. There was no correlation observed with cognitive change when the middle and lower tertiles were compared, so a higher and lower range was used in the final analysis. There was an average decline over time in the 3MS scores and there was a higher decline in the individuals with higher MedDiet scores than those with lower ones. SAS 9.3 was used for all statistical…show more content…
Whites had a mean of 27.6 +/- standard deviation 20.9 servings per month for consumption of nonrefined grain products. Blacks had a 25.0+/- 21.0. It has a pValue of <.001. The table was adjusted for demographic variables and total energy , black participants with high MedDiet scores had a significantly slower mean rate of decline of 3MS score, compared to those with lower MedDiet scores(mean:0.26 points/y; 95% confidence interval: 0.09-0.44; p=0.003). In the full model further adjusted for body mass index, current smoking, physical activity, depression, and diabetes, compared with blacks with lower MedDiet scores, those with high MedDiet scores had a significantly slower rate of cognitive decline (mean: 0.22 points/y, 95% CI: 0.05-0.39 p=0.01). Results did not change when excluding participants with implausibly low or high daily caloric intakes. MedDiet scores were not significantly associated with cognitive decline in whites. In table 3 it gave the mean difference in slope of 3MS Score. Model 1 is the demographic adjusted model and the mean difference in high vs lower scores for whites was 0.12 (-0.01,.026) with a pvalue of .07. For the per 5pt increase, whites were at 0.03(-0.03,0.08) with a pvalue of .36. In blacks, it was 0.26(0.09,0.44) with a pvalue of .003. For per 5pt increase, whites have a mean difference of 0.09(0.02,0.16) with a pvalue of .01. Model 2 is

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