05 Feb Healthy Diet May Lower COPD Risk

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Raphaëlle Varraso
INSERM U1168, VIMA (Aging and chronic diseases. Epidemiological and public health approaches), 16 avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier
Villejuif, France

MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Respiratory health and lung function, strongly predict general health status and all-cause mortality. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is currently ranked the third leading cause of death worldwide. The predominant risk factor for COPD in the developed world is cigarette smoking, but up to one-third of COPD patients have never smoked, suggesting that other factors are involved. Besides smoking, relatively little attention has been paid to other modifiable risk factors that might decrease risk of developing COPD, including diet. The Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)-2010, a new measure of diet quality based on current scientific knowledge, has been linked to risk of major chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. However, the role of dietary scores on risk of COPD is unknown.

We examined this issue among >120,000 US female and male health professionals (Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study), and we reported that a high AHEI-2010 dietary score score (reflecting high intakes of whole grains, vegetables, fruit, polyunsaturated fatty acids, nuts and legumes, and long-chain omega-3 fats, a moderate intake of alcohol, and low intakes of red/processed meats, trans fat, sodium and sugar-sweetened beverages) was associated with a lower risk of COPD in both women and men. This novel finding supports the importance of diet in COPD pathogenesis.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Response: Although COPD prevention efforts should continue to focus on smoking cessation, these prospective findings support the importance of a healthy diet in multi-interventional programs to prevent COPD. Our results encourage clinicians to consider the potential role of the combined effect of foods in a healthy diet in promoting lung health. While one study is unlikely to change clinical practice, our paper provides further support for non-traditional risk factors for COPD.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Our two cohorts are comprised of health professionals and, as such, are not necessarily generalizable to the general population. For example, differences in health awareness, socio-economic status, and smoking behavior might differ significantly between our study population and the general population. Moreover, our study population was mainly non-Hispanic white, which might limit generalizability of our results to other racial/ethnic populations. We encourage replication of our prospective findings on AHEI-2010 and COPD in other populations.

Citation:

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, & Raphaëlle Varraso (2015). Healthy Diet May Lower COPD Risk MedicalResearch.com

Last Updated on February 5, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD