Published on
Updated
Reading 3 mins.
According to a new study, people with multiple sclerosis would benefit from adopting a so-called Mediterranean diet on a daily basis. This would indeed reduce their risk of memory loss and cognitive decline by up to 20%.
Autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, multiple sclerosis, or MS affects approximately 110,000 people in France. This dysfunction of the immune system leads to lesions that cause motor, sensory, cognitive and visual disturbances that can progress to irreversible disability. If it is an incurable pathology for the moment, certain treatments and habits of life make it possible to reduce the evolution of the disease and its outbreaks. What’s on the plate could also help people with MS. Researchers thus affirm today that a Mediterranean diet can act on memory and cognitive abilities.
20% lower risk of cognitive impairment in followers of the Mediterranean diet
The study, presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston, included 563 people with MS who were tasked with self-reporting how well they followed the Mediterranean diet. Study participants were then divided into four groups based on their degree of diet tracking on a scale of 0 to 14. Each participant then completed three different tests assessing thinking and memory skills .
The researchers reported the following study results:
- 19% of participants showed signs of cognitive impairment. 20% lower risk of cognitive impairment in people who followed the Mediterranean diet compared to others.
- 34% of study participants who reported low adherence to the Mediterranean diet had cognitive impairment, compared to 13% of people in the group with the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
- The results were more noticeable or stronger in people with progressive MS than in those with relapsing-remitting MS, where the disease flares up and then goes into periods of remission.
Other lifestyle factors that may affect the risk of cognitive impairment, such as socioeconomic status, smoking status, body mass index, high blood pressure, and level of physical activity were considered. consideration. “Among the health-related factors, the level of dietary alignment with the Mediterranean pattern was by far the best predictor of people’s cognitive scores and whether they met the study criteria for cognitive impairment”said Dr. Ilana Katz Sand, study author and neurologist.
A diet that would play an anti-inflammatory role
But what links then exist between the plate and cognitive functions? According to the study, the foods we eat play a role in inflammation in the body. However, chronic inflammation can worsen the symptoms of medical conditions and cause damage to the brain, heart and other organs. As such, the Mediterranean diet is known to include foods with anti-inflammatory properties such as vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish, healthy fats such as olive oil. By nature, it also reduces a whole range of foods that are likely to inflame the body: red meats, dairy products, processed products and saturated fatty acids.
“This study suggests that the Mediterranean diet has the potential to positively impact cognitive impairment in MS and more specifically in progressive MS,” said Kathy Zackowski, associate vice president of research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the study’s conclusion,
“It is important for people with MS to know that diet is an important part of well-being and can go hand-in-hand with disease-modifying therapies to manage symptoms and suppress disease activity. ”.
The study also reminded us that other healthy lifestyle habits could make it easier to live with MS and its symptoms, also by adopting regular activity, getting enough sleep and seeking to reduce stress through gentle methods.
The opinion of Dr Wilfrid Casseron, neurologist
The cognitive abilities of patients with multiple sclerosis can be affected by the disease itself, but also by more general factors such as fatigue. Good quality food, if it plays an important role in the general population, it is certainly the same in multiple sclerosis, but this would also require large prospective studies with reliable and reliable cognitive evaluation criteria. a very difficult control to envisage on food intake on a daily basis, over a very long period. In short, sick or not, eating healthier, with a diet low in saturated fatty acids, richer in omega 3 and polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D seems to be a good idea to stay healthy.