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DASH diet reduces heart failure risk

Older adults aged 45 to 74 years who followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet were less likely to develop heart failure, according to findings recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“Only a few prior studies have examined the effects of the DASH diet on the incidence of heart failure, and they have yielded conflicting results,” Claudia L. Campos, MD, associate professor of general internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, said in a press release.

Researchers assessed food-frequency questionnaires and CVD-related data from 4,479 participants aged 45 to 84 years from a previously existing, CVD-free cohort who were followed for a median of 13 years.

Campos and colleagues found that during the follow-up period, only 179 of 4,478 participants developed heart failure. They also found that heart failure incidence rates did not change by DASH quintile for the population when taken as a whole, and “as expected” rates were generally higher among men, older participants and those who were obese and with diabetes.

“However, there was a suggestion of heterogeneity in the pattern of incident heart failure by DASH score quintile according to age category,” researchers wrote.

 

Older adults aged 45 to 74 years who followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet were less likely to develop heart failure, according to findings recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

 

Source:Adobe

“Although in the younger participants the incidence of heart failure was generally lower in quintile 5 than quintile 1, among those aged 75 to 84 years at baseline, the pattern was reversed but was not statistically significant, and the lowest incidence of heart failure was in quintile 1,” they added.

This observation led researchers to continue their analysis in patients 75 years of age and younger. In this particular cohort, those who had the highest DASH adherence had a lower incidence of heart failure compared with those who were the least adherent, according to Campos and colleagues.

“This research provides a framework for further exploration of the DASH diet as an effective element in the primary prevention of heart failure,” Campos said in the press release. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.