Adherence to healthy diet lowers risk of future VTE

Sticking to a prudent dietary pattern may reduce the risk of future venous thromboembolism (VTE), while adherence to a Western diet appears to increase such risk, according to study.

“These study findings suggest that adhering to a healthy dietary pattern may provide a better potential prevention strategy compared with focusing on individual food and beverage intake,” the researchers said.

A total of 14,818 middle-aged males and females were followed for incident VTE over an average of 22 years between 1987 and 2015. Using a food frequency questionnaire, trained interviewers assessed dietary intake of participants at visits 1 and 3.

The researchers then derived two dietary pattern scores using principal component analysis and verified hospitalized VTE. They also performed separate proportional hazards regression analyses to examine associations of quintiles of the prudent and the Western dietary pattern scores with the risk of developing noncancer-related and total VTE, adjusting for demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, body mass index, and diabetes.

Total incident VTE events stood at 860, and the hazard ratios (HRs) of incident noncancer-related VTE (n=631) across quintiles of the prudent dietary pattern score were 1 (reference), 1.04 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.81–1.32), 0.84 (95 percent CI, 0.65–1.08), 0.70 (95 percent CI, 0.53–0.91), and 0.88 (95 percent CI, 0.67–1.15; p_trend=0.04). [Am J Med 2021;134:763-768.E3]

On the other hand, the HRs of noncancer-related VTE across quintiles of the Western dietary pattern score were 1 (reference), 1.13 (95 percent CI, 0.87–1.45), 1.20 (95 percent CI, 0.92–1.56), 1.03 (95 percent CI, 0.77–1.39), and 1.58 (95 percent CI, 1.13–2.21; p_trend=0.04). Associations were comparable for total VTE.

“[O]ur findings are consistent with the 2015-2020 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans that encourage consumption of a healthy eating pattern, which includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, low-fat dairy (eg, yogurt), and a variety of protein foods (eg, nuts and legumes, seafood, and poultry),” the researchers said. [http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/]

The current study did not observe an association of individual food and beverage intake with VTE, but previous research reported inconsistent results for the most frequently studied food groups such as fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat.

Specifically, VTE inversely correlated with fish and positively with red and processed meat intake. [Circulation 2007;115:188-195; Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 2010;21:758-763; Thromb Res 2014;133:352-356; J Nutr 2014;144:861-867; Am J Epidemiol 2012;175:114-126; Circ J 2018;82:2063-2070]

Earlier studies also did not find any association of whole grain, total meat, or sugar-sweetened beverage consumption with VTE. [Circulation 2007;115:188-195; J Thromb Haemost 2012;10:189-198; Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 2010;21:758-763; Thromb Res 2014;133:352-356; Am Heart J 2009;157:1081-1087]

“Our study adds to the body of evidence showing the long-term benefit of a healthy dietary pattern in avoiding VTE; however, further evaluation is needed, including clinicals trials where feasible, on whether changing to a healthier dietary pattern reduces risk of VTE,” the researchers said.