Poor-Quality Diet Tied to Higher Risk for Adverse CAD, PAD Outcomes

FRIDAY, May 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Poor diet quality is independently associated with a higher risk for recurrent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major adverse limb events (MALE) in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD), according to a study published online April 20 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Darryl Wan, M.D., from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined the relationship between dietary patterns and the risk for recurrent MACE and MALE in CAD and PAD patients. The analysis included data from 26,539 people from 33 countries.

The researchers found that the incidence of MACE or MALE was 6.3 percent in the lowest diet-quality quartile (assessed by the modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index) versus 4.2 percent in the highest quartile over 30 months. For quartile 1 versus 4, in an adjusted analysis, the lower-quality diet was tied to a higher risk for MACE or MALE (hazard ratio, 1.27), with the excess hazard primarily driven by higher MACE in both the CAD and PAD cohorts.

"Patients often ask what they should eat, and what this study tells us is that dietary quality is important," Wan said in a statement. "I think this is highly applicable globally because rather than saying people need to stick to one rigid diet, these principles can be applied across multiple cultures, countries, and ethnicities."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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