Mediterranean Diet Could Lower Genetic Stroke Risk

Eating a Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk of stroke in some patients that are genetically predisposed to the medical condition.

According to a recent study, researchers found that patients with the genetic risk who stuck to a low-fat diet were up to three times more likely to suffer strokes.

"Our study is the first to identify a gene-diet interaction affecting stroke in a nutrition intervention trial carried out over a number of years in thousands of men and women," researcher José M. Ordovás, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, said in a news release. "With the ability to analyze the relationship between diet, genetics and life-threatening cardiac events, we can begin to think seriously about developing genetic tests to identify people who may reduce their risk for chronic disease, or even prevent it, by making meaningful changes to the way they eat."

The study looked at over 7,000 men and women who were either assigned to a Mediterranean diet or a low-fat diet over a five year period. Patients were monitored for heart attack, heart disease, stroke and other health conditions related to their specific diet.

Researchers also looked for a variant of the Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 gene that is known to possibly cause Type 2 diabetes. End results showed that approximately 14 percent of the study participants had two copies of the gene variant that put them at an increased risk for the disease.

Those on the Mediterranean diet were also more likely to have lower glucose levels and be at a lower risk of heart disease.

The findings are published in the journal Diabetes Care.