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Mediterranean Diet has Varied Effects on Cognitive Decline among Different Races

posted by azrael on Sunday July 20 2014, @07:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the used-to-know-what-this-meant dept.

cafebabe writes:

ScienceDaily reports that:

In a population of initially well-functioning older adults, we found a significant correlation between strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet and a slower rate of cognitive decline among African American, but not white, older adults. Our study is the first to show a possible race-specific association between the Mediterranean diet and cognitive decline.

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by opinionated_science on Sunday July 20 2014, @04:27PM

    by opinionated_science (4031) on Sunday July 20 2014, @04:27PM (#71541)

    There is no scientific basis for race. To their credit, the authors of this study say

    "Further studies in diverse populations are still needed to confirm the association between the Mediterranean diet and cognitive decline. Randomized controlled trials in particular can provide stronger evidence of the cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet, yet only one trial exists. If a true race effect exists, other studies in multiethnic cohorts can elucidate if such an effect is due to genetic and/or environmental factors. Regardless of any race effect, adherence to a Mediterranean diet should still be recommended for its established beneficial effects on other health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease".

    There is no material given in the article for how the populations were selected other than "We followed 2,326 older adults (38.2% black, 51.3% female, aged 70–79 at baseline)", which is supposed to suggest there rest were "white". WTF?

    Perhaps this field is still using outdated terms in their journals as tradition(!) , but it is on very shaky genetic as well as statistical grounds.

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