Risk of Women's Heart Attack or Stroke Appears to Be Lowered by '...( Study in Archives of Internal Med...),Health

Study in Archives of Internal Medicine Led by Simmons School for Health Studies

BOSTON, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women who adhered to the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which is high in fruits and vegetables and low in animal protein, significantly lowered their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, according to a study published today (April 14) in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study indicates for the first time that the diet, which had previously been shown to lower blood pressure, also reduces risk of heart attack and stroke among middle-aged women.

The study was lead by Teresa Fung, Sc.D, a nutrition professor in the Simmons School for Health Studies in Boston (http://www.simmons.edu/shs), with colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The DASH diet was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and previously was widely promoted as a diet to treat high blood pressure. It is a diet low in cholesterol and sodium and contains no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. It is high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole gains and low-fat dairy products, and low in red and processed meats and sweetened beverages.

Fung's study created a score to measure how closely women's diets resemble the DASH diet, then looked to see if those with a high score (stricter adherence to the DASH diet) would have a lower risk of developing heart attacks and stroke than those with low adherence to the diet and a low DASH score.

Over 24 years of follow-up, the study found that women in the top 20 percent of the DASH score were 24 percent less likely to have heart disease and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke, than the women who scored in the bottom 20 percent of the DASH score.

The data also showed the risk reduction for stroke was stronger in women with a history of hypertension a
'/>"/>