[P09.115] A Dietary Pattern Protective Against Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

Yian Gu, New York, NY, Jeri W. Nieves, West Haverstraw, NY, Yaakov Stern, Nicole Schupf, Jose Luchsinger, Nikolaos Scarmeas, New York, NY

OBJECTIVE: To identify a dietary pattern that is associated with AD risk. BACKGROUND: Because foods are not consumed in isolation, dietary patterns taking into account the interactions among food components may offer substantial advantages. Reduced-Rank Regression (RRR) is a multivariate method to extract dietary patterns that explain, as much as possible, the variation of nutrients that are believed to relate to disease risk. DESIGN/METHODS: 2136 community-based non-demented elderly (age > 65) in New York provided dietary information and were prospectively evaluated with the same standardized neurological and neuropsychological measures every 1.5 years. Using RRR we calculated dietary patterns (linear combinations of 33 food groups), based on their ability to explain variation in 7 AD-related nutrients (SFA, MUFA, omega-3, omega-6, vitamin E, vitamin B12, and folate). The associations of RRR-derived patterns with AD risk were examined using Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for cohort, age, gender, body mass index, ethnicity, education, APOE genotype, and caloric intake. RESULTS: A total of 251 subjects developed AD during the follow-up period (mean 3.9 years). We identified a dietary pattern that was positively correlated with omega-3, omega-6, folate, and vitamin E, and negatively correlated with SFA and vitamin B12 intakes. This dietary pattern was strongly associated with lower AD risk: when compared to the lowest dietary pattern score tertile, AD hazard ratio (95%CI) for the middle and highest tertiles were 0.77 (0.56-1.05) and 0.58 (0.40-0.84), respectively (p for trend < 0.01). This dietary pattern was characterized by higher intakes of cruciferous vegetables, green-leafy vegetables, fish, nuts, salad dressing, tomato and a lower intake of high-fat dairy products. CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: Simultaneous consideration of multiple AD-related nutrients can aid in identification of dietary patterns that relate to AD risk. A diet that is high in vegetables, nuts and fish and low in high-fat dairy products intake may help protect against AD. Supported by: PO1-AG07232, AG028506
Category - Aging and Dementia - Epidemiology

Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:00 PM

Poster Session IX: Aging and Dementia: Epidemiology (4:00 PM-7:00 PM)