THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET IMPACT ON PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF COGNITIVE DECLINE

Authors

  • Cristina GROSU Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital Iasi
  • A.C. OPRESCU “Sf. Spiridon” County Clinical Emergency Hospital Iasi
  • Otilia NITA “Grigore. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

Keywords:

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, NUTRITION, MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Abstract

The world’s population aged over 60 years is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Increased age makes us vulnerable to various neurodegenerative pathologies among them cognitive impairment and dementia. The economic and social burden of caring for persons with cognitive decline is increasing, and to date there are no effective pharmacologic agents to prevent or treat the disease or even its precursor stages. Identifying simple and effective interventions, like modifiable risk factors to prevent cognitive decline and dementia is likely to be an important strategy for delaying the onset, and reducing the number of patients is a major public health priority. There is growing evidence that diet -a modifiable risk factor- could be one component of an effective prevention strategy against cognitive decline, although no firm conclusion can be drawn at this point. A healthy Mediterranean diet (MeDi), rich in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, olive oil, and fish may be neuroprotective. Greater adherence to the MeDi is associated with slower rate of cognitive decline and lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, but findings are conflicting, mainly due to significant heterogeneity between studies in terms of populations studied and methods used to assess diet and cognition. All these reasons highlight the need for randomized clinical trials and for further research.

Author Biographies

  • Cristina GROSU, Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital Iasi

    Neurology Department

  • A.C. OPRESCU, “Sf. Spiridon” County Clinical Emergency Hospital Iasi

    Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases Department

  • Otilia NITA, “Grigore. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

    Faculty of Medicine
    Department of Medical Specialties (II)

References

1. Brookmeyer R, Johnson E, Ziegler-Graham K, Arrighi HM. Forecasting the global burden of Alz-heimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement 2007; 3(3): 186-191.
2. Jiang T, Yu JT, Tan L. Novel disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2012; 31(3): 475-492.
3. Williams JW, Plassman BL, Burke J, Benjamin S. Preventing Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline. Evid Rep Technol Assess 2010; 193: 1-727.
4. Shah R. The role of nutrition and diet in Alzheimer disease: a systematic review. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013; 14(6): 398-402.
5. Ramassamy C, Belkac´emi A. Nutrition and Alzheimer’s disease: is there any connection? Curr Alzheimer Res 2011; 8(5): 443-444.
6. Zucker CS. Food for the brain. Cell 2015; 161(1): 9-11.
7. Cooper C, Li R, Lyketsos C, Livingston G. Treatment for mild cognitive impairment: systematic review. Br J Psychiatry 2013; 203(3): 255-264.
8. Masana MF, Koyanagi A, Haro JM, Tyrovolas S. n-3 Fatty acids, Mediterranean diet and cognitive function in normal aging: A systematic review. Experiem Gerontol 2017; 91: 39-50.
9. Wade AT, Davis CR, Dyer KA et al. A Mediterranean Diet to Improve Cardiovascular and Cognitive Health: Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Intervention Study. Nutrients 2017; 9:145-149.
10. Dinu M, Pagliai G, Casini A, Sofi F. Mediterranean diet and multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomised trials. Europ J Clin Nutrit Adv, online publication, 2017; doi:10.1038/ ejcn.2017.58.
11. van de Rest O, Berendsen AM, Haveman-Nies A, de Groot CPGM. Dietary patterns, cognitive decline, and dementia: a systematic review. Adv Nutr 2015; 6: 154-168.
12. ***World Health Organization: Diet, nutrition, and the prevention of chronic diseases. Report of a WHO study group. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 1990; 797: 1-204.
13. Berendsen AAM, Kang JH, van den Rest O et al. Association of Adherence to a Healthy Diet with Cognitive Decline in European and American Older Adults. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2017; 43: 215-227.
14. Singh B, Parsaik AK, Mielke MM et al. Association of Mediterranean Diet with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Alzheimers Dis 2014; 39(2): 271-282.
15. Psaltopoulou T, Sergentanis TN, Panagiotakos DB et al. Mediterranean diet, stroke, cognitive im-pairment, and depression: A meta-analysis. Ann Neurol 2013; 74: 580-591.
16. Davis CR, Bryan J, Hodgson JM et al. A Mediterranean Diet Reduces F2-Isoprostanes and Triglycer-ides among Older Australian Men and Women after 6 Months. J Nutr 2017; 147(7): 1348-1355.
17. Titova OE, Sjögren P, Brooks SJ et al. Dietary intake of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids is linked to gray matter volume and cognitive function in elderly. Age (Dordr) 2013; 35(4): 1495-1450.
18. Samieri C, Grodstein F, Rosner BA et al. Mediterranean diet and cognitive function in older age. Epidemiology 2013; 24(4): 490-499.
19. Dominguez LJ, Barbagallo M. The relevance of nutrition for the concept of cognitive frailty. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2017; 20(1): 61-68.
20. Villacampa-Fernándeza P, Navarro-Pardoa E, Tarínb JJ, Cano A. Frailty and multimorbidity: Two related yet different concepts. Maturitas 2017;95 :31-35.
21. Ruan Q, D'Onofrio G, Sancarlo D et al. Emerging biomarkers and screening for cognitive frailty. Aging Clin Exp Res 2017 doi: 10.1007/s40520-017-0741-8. (Epub ahead of print)
22. Loughrey DG, Lavecchia S, Brennan S et al. The Impact of the Mediterranean Diet on the Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Adv Nutr July 2017; 8: 571-586.
23. Staubo SC, Aakre JA, Vemuri P et al. Mediterranean diet, micronutrients and macronutrients, and MRI measures of cortical thickness. Alzheimers Dement 2017; 13(2): 168-177.
24. McEvoy CT, Guyer H, Langa KM, Yaffe K. Neuroprotective Diets Are Associated with Better Cog-nitive Function: The Health and Retirement Study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2017 doi: 10.1111/jgs.14922. (epub ahead of print).
25. Valls-Pedret C, Sala-Vila A, Serra-Mir M et al. Mediterranean Diet and Age-Related Cognitive De-cline. A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med 2015; 175(7): 1094-1103.
26. Tussing-Humphreys L, Lamar M, Blumenthal JA et al. Building research in diet and cognition: The BRIDGE randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials 2017; 59: 87-97.
27. Samieri C, Feart C, Proust-Lima C et al. Olive oil consumption, plasma oleic acid, and stroke incidence: The Three-City Study. Neurology 2011; 7(5): 418-425.
28. Walters M, Hackett K, Caesar E et al. Role of Nutrition to Promote Healthy Brain Aging and Reduce Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Curr Nutr Rep 2017; 6(2): 63-71.

Additional Files

Published

2017-09-30

Issue

Section

INTERNAL MEDICINE - PEDIATRICS