October 2007 Archives
Consuming what's known
as a Mediterranean diet, a diet one loaded with fruits, vegetables,
grains and olive oil, may help Alzheimer's patients live
longer. The more closely Alzheimer's patients adhered to the Mediterranean
diet ideal, the longer their lives, Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas of Columbia
University Medical Center in New York City and colleagues found.
"The magnitude of the effect was considerable," they write in the September 11 issue of Neurology. The observation comes after researchers tracked the dietary
habits of people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's. It
follows an earlier study by the same team that suggests these diets
may lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's in the first
place.
"This time, we found that Alzheimer's patients who were following the Mediterranean diet had longer survival as compared to those who were following the diet less," said study lead author Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, an assistant professor in the department of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
Read more:
Neurology
