Abstract
Purpose :
The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet is developed as a strategy to promote healthy cognitive ageing. Adherence to the MIND diet has been associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and slowed cognitive decline with aging or after stroke. Since open-angleglaucoma (OAG) is also a neurodegenerative disease, it is of interest to study the effect of the MIND diet on the incidence (i) of OAG. To determine whether this diet has a different effect on iOAG risk than diets designed to improve overall health, we also determined the association between iOAG and the Mediterranean diet and Dutch Dietary Guidelines.
Methods :
Participants of the Rotterdam Study, a longitudinal population-based cohort study, were regularly monitored for iOAG. Dietary data were collected at baseline using validated food frequency questionnaires. The association between the diet scores and iOAG was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analyses, adjusted for body mass index, total energy intake, physical activity and follow-up time. Additional adjustment for intraocular pressure (IOP), smoking and education level was also performed. The association between the diet scores and IOP, the main risk factor of OAG, was assessed using multivariate linear regression analyses.
Results :
A total of 1020 participants were included in the analyses, among whom 170 developed iOAG over a mean 10.9-year follow-up period. Controls were age (mean 65.8 years) and gender (54.1% female)-matched. As expected, cases had a significantly higher IOP (16.4 vs. 14.2 mmHg). We found that adherence to the MIND diet was associated with a decreased iOAG risk (11% for each 1-point increase in score; Odds Ratio=0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.80-1.00). This association remained even after adjusting for factors that correlate with a healthy lifestyle. Sensitivity analyses, excluding one component of the total MIND score at a time, showed that the protective effect originated especially from the intake of green leafy vegetables, berries and fish. No associations were observed between the Mediterranean diet score or Dutch Dietary Guidelines score and iOAG. Moreover, none of the diet scores were associated with IOP.
Conclusions :
A higher adherence to the MIND diet was associated with a lower incidence of OAG. The mechanism is probably not through the IOP. Thus, the MIND diet may also serve as a beneficial dietary pattern for healthy eyes.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.