PLEASE TYPE YOUR ANSWER WHICH COVERS ALL THREE PARTS OF CASE STUDY A : Is this s

Question

PLEASE TYPE YOUR ANSWER WHICH COVERS ALL THREE PARTS OF CASE STUDY

A: Is this study reliable or well conducted? Why/Why not AND If true could this be applied to patients in hospitals?

B: How many people might benefit from the MIND Diet AND Are there other diseases that might also benefit from this type of diet?

C: Is their other food you think they could add to a MIND Diet AND Go for it use to ask a question?

TOPIC: MIND diet may slow cognitive decline in stroke survivors

Date: January 26, 2018

Source: Rush University Medical Center

Summary:

A diet created by researchers may help substantially slow cognitive decline in stroke survivors, according to preliminary research. The finding are significant because stroke survivors are twice as likely to develop dementia compared to the general population.

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A diet created by researchers at Rush University Medical Center may help substantially slow cognitive decline in stroke survivors, according to preliminary research presented on Jan. 25 at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2018 in Los Angeles. The findings are significant because stroke survivors are twice as likely to develop dementia compared to the general population.

The diet, known as the MIND diet, is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. The diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets. Both have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, heart attack and stroke.

"The foods that promote brain health, including vegetables, berries, fish and olive oil, are included in the MIND diet," said Dr. Laurel J. Cherian, a vascular neurologist and assistant professor in Rush's Department of Neurological Sciences. "We found that it has the potential to help slow cognitive decline in stroke survivors."

Cherian is the lead author of the study, which was funded by the National Institute of Aging (grant numbers R01AG054476 and R01AG17917).

Study assessed survivors' cognitive function, monitored their diets

Study co-author Martha Clare Morris, ScD, a Rush nutritional epidemiologist, and her colleagues developed the MIND diet based on information from years of research about what foods and nutrients have good, and bad, effects on the functioning of the brain. The diet has been associated with reduced Alzheimer's risk in seniors who adhered to its recommendations. Even people who moderately adhered had reduced risk of AD and cognitive decline.

Rush is currently seeking volunteers to participate in the study (www.rush.edu/clinical-trials/effect-weight-loss-diets-brain-health-and-cognitive-decline-study (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), which aims to show whether a specific diet can prevent cognitive decline and brain changes with age.

The MIND diet has 15 dietary components, including 10 "brain-healthy food groups" and five unhealthy groups -- red meat, butter, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.

To adhere to and benefit from the MIND diet, a person would need to eat at least three servings of whole grains, a green leafy vegetable and one other vegetable every day -- along with a glass of wine -- snack most days on nuts, have beans every other day or so, eat poultry and berries at least twice a week and fish at least once a week. The diet also specifies limiting intake of the designated unhealthy foods, limiting butter to less than 1 1/2 teaspoons a day and eating less than five servings a week of sweets and pastries, and less than one serving per week of whole fat cheese, and fried or fast food.

"I was really intrigued by the results of a previous MIND study, which showed that the people who were most highly adherent to the MIND diet cognitively functioned as if they were 7.5 years younger than the least adherent group," Cherian said. "It made me wonder if those findings would hold true for stroke survivors, who are twice as likely to develop dementia compared to the general population."

From 2004 to 2017, Cherian and colleagues studied 106 participants of the Rush Memory and Aging Project who had a history of stroke for cognitive decline, including decline in one's ability to think, reason and remember. They assessed people in the study every year until their deaths or the study's conclusion, for an average of 5.9 years, and monitored patients' eating habits using food journals.

The researchers grouped participants into those who were highly adherent to the MIND diet, moderately adherent and least adherent. They also looked at additional factors that are known to affect cognitive performance, including age, gender, education level, participation in cognitively stimulating activities, physical activity, smoking and genetics.

Related diets not associated with slower cognitive decline

The study participants whose diets scored highest on the MIND diet score had substantially slower rate of cognitive decline than those who scored lowest. The estimated effect of the diet remained strong even after taking into account participants' level of education and participation in cognitive and physical activities. In contrast to the results of slower decline with higher MIND diet score, stroke survivors who scored high on the Mediterranean and DASH diets, did not have significant slowing in their cognitive abilities.

"The Mediterranean and DASH diets have been shown to be protective against coronary artery disease and stroke, but it seems the nutrients emphasized in the MIND diet may be better suited to overall brain health and preserving cognition," Cherian said.

According to Cherian, studies have found that folate, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, carotenoids and flavonoids are associated with slower rates of cognitive decline, while substances such as saturated and hydrogenated fats have been associated with dementia.

The right foods may protect stroke survivors' cognition

"I like to think of the MIND diet as a way to supercharge the nutritional content of what we eat. The goal is to emphasize foods that will not only lower our risk of heart attacks and stroke, but make our brains as resilient as possible to cognitive decline," she said.

"Our study suggests that if we choose the right foods, we may be able to protect stroke survivors from cognitive decline." Cherian cautions, however, that the study was observational, with a relatively small number of participants, and its findings cannot be interpreted in a cause-and-effect relationship.

"This is a preliminary study that will hopefully be confirmed by other studies, including a randomized diet intervention study instroke survivors," she says. "For now, I think there is enough information to encourage stroke patients to view food as an important tool to optimize their brain health."

Explanation / Answer

A. Yes, the study s reliable and well conducted. The reasons we can say this are--

i] The study is conducted over a sufficiently long period of time [ 2004 to 2017 ].

ii] It is comparative because it takes into account the effect of the MIND diet given to people in less amount, moderate amount and large amount and then an analysis of its effect is studied.

iii] The study considered other factors too which are known to affect cognitive behavior such as age, gender, educational background, genetics and habits like smoking, physical activity etc.

So they made a comprehensive and detailed study and this can now be tried on other stroke patients.

B. All patients can benefit from the MIND diet only maybe those patients who are suffering from some complicated heart disease related to blood cholesterol levels could do away with those food items which are rich in fats.

MIND diet could benefit people suffering from diabetes because it is rich in fibers and proteins. Heart patients can also benefit from such a well-monitored diet.  

C. They could add some soybean products like soy-milk, tofu [ soy-cheese ], soy-yogurt and soy-nuggets to the diet. Soy products are very rich in proteins and fibers without the harmful fats that might be present in milk and its products. Soybean is also a rich source of vitamins and minerals. Molybdenum, an essential trace element is found in this bean. It helps to prevent tachycardia, tachypnea and reduces the risks of a person going into coma. Soy products are also a rich source of vitamin B9 or folic acid.  

Another food that they could include in the MIND diet is chia seeds. Chia seeds are very rich in fibers and are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which are so helpful in raising the HDL cholesterol that protects against heart attack and stroke.

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