meeting of some researchers of group PREDIMED. PHOTO: Courtesy.

The network PREDIMED (Healthy Eating in the Primary Prevention of Chronic Diseases) presents its report on the tenth anniversary of the launch of the largest clinical essay conducted in Spain. This study analyzes the role of the Mediterranean per diem expenses as a strategy to prevent cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in the world.

The essay, initiated by Dr. Ramón Estruch (Hospital Clinic, Barcelona), has the largest group of volunteers recruited in Spain, 7,447, with whom a prolonged and personalized intervention has been carried out over the years with group and individual sessions at position by dieticians-nutritionists. The profile of the volunteers are people at high cardiovascular risk -men between 55 and 80 years of age and women between 60 and 80 years of age-, from Navarra, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

The work has been funded by high school de Salud Carlos III, which supports the current network , coordinated by Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, Full Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Navarra. The network includes 14 centers and 105 scientists specialized in Nutrition from all over Spain. Other research centers belonging to CIBEROBN (research center Biomedical network-Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition) also work in essay .

During the 10 years since its launch, the PREDIMED study has already resulted in more than 160 collaborative scientific articles in some of the world's most prestigious journals, such as the Annals of Internal Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Care, or the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In total, the researchers of this network have published more than 600 scientific articles since 2007, including influential journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine or the British Medical Journal.

Preliminary results obtained so far suggest that adherence to a traditional Mediterranean per diem expenses patron saint is associated with reductions in cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

per diem expenses Mediterranean or per diem expenses leave in fat?
"In fact," explains Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, "three interventions on the overall dietary patron saint have been compared. Two of them rich in natural fats of vegetable origin -virgin olive oil and nuts-, according to a traditional Mediterranean diet model , and a third group which was recommended to follow a per diem expenses leave in fats according to the guidelines of the American Health Association".

The final results of this essay will be published in 2012:"We can only anticipate that they will provide the most convincing evidence yet on the most effective subject of per diem expenses to prevent deaths from cardiovascular disease," says the expert.

Both the design and the methods used by this study have just been published in the April issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology.