DASH Diet Lowers Risk of Heart Failure

BOSTON—A recent study found diets consistent with The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet are associated with lower rates of heart failure (HF) (Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(9):851-857). Researchers conducted a prospective observational study in 36,019 participants in the Swedish Mammography Cohort who were aged 48 to 83 years and without baseline HF, diabetes mellitus or myocardial infarction. A score was created to assess consistency with the DASH diet by ranking the intake of DASH diet components and three additional scores based on food and nutrient guidelines. During seven years, 443 women developed HF. Women in the top quartile of the DASH diet score based on ranking DASH diet components had a 37-percent lower rate of HF after adjustment for age, physical activity, energy intake, education status, family history of myocardial infarction, cigarette smoking, postmenopausal hormone use, living alone, hypertension, high cholesterol concentration, body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and incident myocardial infarction. Rate ratios across quartiles were 1 [Reference], 0.85 (0.66-1.11), 0.69 (0.54-0.88) and 0.63 (0.48-0.81). A similar pattern was seen for the guideline-based scores.