Mediterranean Diet May Boost Longevity for Cancer Survivors

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Mediterranean Diet May Boost Longevity for Cancer Survivors
Following a Mediterranean diet may help cancer survivors improve their heart health and live longer, a new study has found.

Among long-term cancer survivors (on average, study subjects had been diagnosed with the disease eight years prior), those who closely followed a Mediterranean eating pattern had a 32 percent lower risk of dying from any cause and a 58 percent lower risk of heart-related death compared to those who didn’t follow the diet at all.

Following a Mediterranean diet has been well-studied in the general population, and a large body of research supports this eating pattern as a key strategy for overall health and for reducing the risk of chronic conditions, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer.

“Now, our findings indicate that this dietary pattern is also effective for people who already had a cancer diagnosis,” says lead study author Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, co–principal investigator of the Joint Research Platform at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Neuromed in Milan.

This is especially significant given that previous research has found cancer survivors have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, says Dr. Bonaccio. One study concluded that cancer survivors had a 42 percent greater risk of cardiovascular disease compared with people without cancer.

Reducing Risk for a Growing Population for Cancer Survivors

The study prospectively gathered data from 802 participants living in Italy (476 women and 326 men, with an average age of 63) who had some type of cancer diagnosis and could provide relevant medical records and information regarding their cancer treatment.

Participants were interviewed about their diet over the preceding 12-month period using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Diets were evaluated on a 10-point scale by how closely they resembled the Mediterranean diet (poor, 0 to 3; average, 4 or 5; and high, 6 to 9) and then the groups were analyzed and compared in terms of 2-point increments based on previous studies in which the scale was used.

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