Diet

For Hemodialysis Patients, Are Mediterranean, DASH Diets Safe?

Mediterranean and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets are not associated with cardiovascular (CV) or all-cause mortality in patients on hemodialysis, according to new research.

These findings emerged from the DIET-HD Study, which included 9757 adult patients on hemodialysis. Median follow-up lasted 2.7 years.
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The GA2LEN Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to calculate Mediterranean and DASH diet scores, and the association between diet score tertiles and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was examined via adjusted Cox regression analyses.

Over the course of follow-up, 2087 deaths occurred, of which 829 were CV-related. For the Mediterranean diet, adjusted hazard ratios were:

  • Middle score tertile: 1.20 for CV mortality and 1.10 for all-cause mortality.
  • Highest score tertile: 1.14 for CV mortality and 1.01 for all-cause mortality.

For the DASH diet, adjusted hazard ratios were:

  • Middle score tertile: 1.01 for CV mortality and 1.13 for all-cause mortality.
  • Highest score tertile: 1.19 for CV mortality and 1.00 for all-cause mortality.

Results indicated that age modified the association between DASH diet score and all-cause mortality. Adjusted hazard ratios were:

  • Patients aged 60 or younger: 1.02 and 0.70 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively.
  • Patients older than age 60 years: 1.05 and 1.08 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively.

“Mediterranean and DASH diets did not associate with cardiovascular or total mortality in hemodialysis,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Saglimbene VM, Wong G, Craig JC, et al. The association of Mediterranean and DASH diets with mortality in adults with hemodialysis: the DIET-HD multinational cohort study. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018;29(6). doi:10.1681/ASN.2018010008