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Research: MERCHANT and colleagues,
Listed in Issue 108
Abstract
MERCHANT and colleagues, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA, amerchan@hsph.harvard.edu, have found that dietary fibre reduces the risk of peripheral arterial disease in men.
Background
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between dietary fibre and the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
Methodology
46,032 men between the ages of 40 and 75 answered a vascular disease questionnaire and completed a 131-item food frequency questionnaire. All were free of PAD, cardiovascular disease and diabetes at the time of the survey. During 12 years of follow-up, 308 incident peripheral arterial disease cases were documented. After adjusting for age, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, family history of early coronary heart disease, alcohol consumption, BMI, physical activity and energy intake, the relative risks were calculated for each quintile of dietary cereal fibre intake.
Results
The risk for peripheral arterial disease in quintile 2 compared to the lowest quintile was 0.69; in quintile 3 it was 0.65; in quintile 4, 0.68; and in the highest quintile it was 0.67. The overall inverse association (P = 0.02) and non-linear components (P = 0.03) were significant. Fruit, vegetable and total fibre intakes were not associated with peripheral arterial disease risk.
Conclusion
These results suggest an inverse relationship between the dietary intake of cereal fibre and the risk of peripheral arterial disease. Eating cereal fibre may protect against peripheral arterial disease.
References
Merchant AT, Hu FB, Spiegelman D, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Ascherio A. Dietary fiber reduces peripheral arterial disease risk in men. Journal of Nutrition 133(11): 3658-3663, Nov 2003.
Comment
If the results that cereal fibre can significantly reduce risk of peripheral arterial disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are repeatable, this makes a reasonable argument for 'prescribing' fibre instead of cholesterol-lowering drugs or beta-blockers to patients first presenting with symptoms of heart disease.
