Healthy diets linked to lower cardiovascular risk after cancer
Cancer survivors in the highest versus lowest fifth of Mediterranean diet scores had a cardiovascular disease hazard ratio of 0.72 over a median 12.3 years.
Limit: Dietary scores relied on participants' recalls rather than objective measurement
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational cohort study, researchers analyzed 8,716 cancer survivors in the UK Biobank who initially had no cardiovascular disease, meaning disease of the heart and blood vessels. They used 24-hour dietary recalls to score eight dietary patterns.
During a median follow-up of 12.3 years, 1,116 participants developed cardiovascular disease. Higher scores for several healthy dietary patterns were associated with lower risk when researchers compared the highest-scoring fifth with the lowest. For the Mediterranean diet score, the hazard ratio was 0.72. This measures relative risk over time, not an absolute difference in the proportion who developed disease. The associations persisted in an additional statistical analysis.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of noncancer death among cancer survivors. The authors suggest healthy dietary patterns may support cardiovascular care after cancer.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish that diet caused the differences in risk, and dietary scores relied on participants’ recalls. The findings concern cancer survivors initially free of cardiovascular disease, not those who already had it.
