Healthy eating may prevent heart failure in men

Adherence to a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), as seen in both the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and the clinically abbreviated Prime Diet Quality Score (PDQS), reveals a study.

“We did not observe a significant association between dietary indices and either overall HF or HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF),” the researchers said.

A total of 44,525 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), who were free from cardiovascular disease and cancer and baseline, were included in the current analysis.

The researchers computed the AHEI and PDQS based on dietary data repeatedly measured using semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires. They also assessed HF, HFrEF, and HFpEF based on review of medical records through 2008.

Finally, multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of diet quality with incident HF.

Overall, 803 cases of HF were recorded during 929,911 person-years of follow-up. Among those with ejection fraction data, 184 had HFpEF and 181 HFrEF.

After adjusting for potential confounders, no significant association was observed between the AHEI and overall HF (HR, 0.96, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.89‒1.04; p_trend=0.57) or between the PDQS and overall HF (HR, 0.98, 95 percent CI, 0.91‒1.05; p_trend=0.82).

Both dietary indices did not show a significant association with HFpEF, but a greater AHEI correlated with a lower HFrEF risk when comparing extreme quintiles (HR, 0.81, 95 percent CI, 0.69‒0.96; p_trend=0.02). In addition, every SD increment in the PDQS led to a 20-percent reduced HFrEF risk (HR, 0.80, 95 percent CI, 0.68‒0.95; p_quadratic=0.03).

“Due to the increasing disease burden, strategies to predict and prevent HF are urgently needed,” according to the researchers.