Dietary Risk Factors and Eating Behaviors in Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

Dietary risk factors play a fundamental role in the prevention and progression of atherosclerosis and PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease). The impact of nutrition, however, defined as the process of taking in food and using it for growth, metabolism and repair, remains undefined with regard to PAD. This article describes the interplay between nutrition and the development/progression of PAD. We reviewed 688 articles, including key articles, narrative and systematic reviews, meta-analyses and clinical studies. We analyzed the interaction between nutrition and PAD predictors, and subsequently created four descriptive tables to summarize the relationship between PAD, dietary risk factors and outcomes. We comprehensively reviewed the role of well-studied diets (Mediterranean, vegetarian/vegan, low-carbohydrate ketogenic and intermittent fasting diet) and prevalent eating behaviors (emotional and binge eating, night eating and sleeping disorders, anorexia, bulimia, skipping meals, home cooking and fast/ultra-processed food consumption) on the traditional risk factors of PAD. Moreover, we analyzed the interplay between PAD and nutritional status, nutrients, dietary patterns and eating habits. Dietary patterns and eating disorders affect the development and progression of PAD, as well as its disabling complications including major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major adverse limb events (MALE). Nutrition and dietary risk factor modification are important targets to reduce the risk of PAD as well as the subsequent development of MACE and MALE.

Mediterranean diet adherence and congestive heart failure: Relationship with clinical severity and ischemic pathogenesis

OBJECTIVES

To our knowledge, no study has addressed the relationship between adherence to a Mediterranean diet style and severity of heart failure. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet assessed using the calculation of Mediterranean diet score and congestive heart failure (CHF), its severity, and pathogenesis.

METHODS

We analyzed charts and collected data of all consecutive patients with a diagnosis of CHF at admission to our Internal Medicine Ward from 2008 to 2014.

RESULTS

We analyzed 209 patients with CHF and 200 controls. Patients with CHF showed a significantly lower mean MeDi score than controls. At receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, we found a good sensitivity and specificity of mean MeDi score to predict CHF. We also observed a significant positive correlation between MeDi score and ischemic pathogenesis of CHF, a positive relationship between New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and ischemic heart disease, and a significant negative relationship between NYHA class and MeDi score.

CONCLUSION

The beneficial effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet suggest a possible answer to the question of the biochemical bases of our data, which should be seen as the direct consequence of the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-remodeling effects linked to the diet.