Article Text
Abstract
Background The impact of a diet is well known in human health. Intake of food groups (fruits and ‘uts, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, whole grains, fish and wine) in the traditional Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) and high MeDi adherence have been associated with lower incidence of chronic diseases and slower cognitive decline, but the relationship between MeDi adherence and nutritional composition has not been reported.
Objectives To describe MeDi and nutritional composition in patients with HD.
Methods Spanish multicenter, cross-sectional study (EHDN). To assess MeDi we used a 3-days dietary record. Food groups, macro and micronutrients and energy intake information were obtained using the software AyS, version 2.0. MeDi scores ranged from 0–9, and higher scores indicated higher adherence.
Results 98 patients were included, 62% women, age 49 ± 14 years, medians TFC 9.0 (7–12), motor UHDRS 32 (7–45) and cognitive UHDRS 161 (132–203), and mean CAG 44 ± 6, BMI 24.6 ± 4.6, waist circumference (WC) 87.7 ± 14.6, waist-height ratio (WHR) 0.54 ± 0.45. Low MeDi adherence was found in 56% of the sample most of them in the age group of 18–50 years. Percentage calories from: protein 18 ± 4, lipid 36 ± 7, and carbohydrates 46 ± 8.
MeDi adherence was similar items of age, sex, BMI, WC, WHR, educational level, type of caregiver, TFC and physical activity. Compared to lower MeDi adherence, HD patient with moderate/high adherence had higher: SF36 score (p = 0.009), AGP+AGM)/AGS ratio (p < 0.0001), fibre (p = 0.029), vitamin C, (p = 0.024), vitamin E (p = 0.008), selenium (p = 0.001), biotin (p = 0.002), folic acid (p = 0.030) and copper (p = 0.016).
Conclusions Patients with HD show low MeDi adherence. In this study we found that higher MeDi adherence was associated with higher quality of life and better nutritional composition. Longitudinal studies and warranted to assess if higher MeDi adherence may delay HD progression and comorbidities.
We gratefully acknowledge to European Huntington’s Disease Network for financial support to this work.
- Mediterranean diet (MeDi)
- Huntington´s disease (HD)
- body Mass Index (BMI)
- waist circumference (WC)
- waist-height ratio (WHR)