In addition to environmental factors, there are known genetic causes for breast cancer risk in women. Specifically, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found on certain genes has been shown to be associated with breast cancer risk.
Some research has shown that folate in the diet may interact with specific SNPs on genes associated with breast cancer risk. Typical Mediterranean diet patterns are relatively high in folate, leading to past research showing possible relationships between Mediterranean diet adherence and reduced breast cancer risk in women.
Specific genes on which SNPS have been shown to interact with dietary folates are the MTHFR (rs180133 and rs1801131) and the MTR (rs1805087) genes.
A new study published in the journal Genes & Nutrition aimed to further investigate whether or not specific SNPs on the aforementioned genes affect the observed benefit of eating a Mediterranean diet on breast cancer risk. In other words, do sequence changes on these genes reduce or increase breast cancer risk in women adhering to a Mediterranean diet?
1,109 women with breast cancer from Cyprus were recruited for this study. Dietary information was collected via questionnaires.
All participants were genotyped for the MTHFR and MTR genes, which would basically provide the researchers with the specific DNA sequence and therefore specific SNP sequences of those genes.
Important Findings:
High adherence to the Mediterranean diet:
Decreased breast cancer risk in women who had increasing numbers of variants of rs180133 SNPs on the MTHFR gene.
Decreased breast cancer risk in women who had at least one variant of rs1805087 SNP on the MTR gene.
Decreased breast cancer risk in women who had the rs1801131 SNP on the MTHFR gene.
The results of this study indicate that Cyprus women with certain genotypes (gene sequences) had a reduced risk of breast cancer if they adhered strictly to the Mediterranean diet.
Photo by Flickr user Army Medicine (http://www.flickr.com/photos/armymedicine/6198092775)
What may be happening here is that the folate obtained from the Mediterranean diet interacts better with certain genotypes than others, resulting in a reduced risk of breast cancer.
More research needs to be done to get a better understanding of the mechanisms behind these relationships, but the results seem to indicate that women with certain genes seem to be better protected from breast cancer if they eat a Mediterranean diet than women who eat a diet with lower folate levels.
Photo by Flickr user Pedro Ribeiro Simões (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/13910019233)
Despite the many studies that seem to show this effect, the results are not consistent and thus require further study.
A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease aimed to compare a variety of diets and their effects on cognitive dysfunction, including Alzheimer’s Disease, all-type dementia, and all-type cognitive impairment in Swedish elderly men.
1,138 Swedish elderly men aged 70 years old were followed over 12 years. Dietary information was collected using a 7 day diet record book that was filled out by all participants.
Diets examined were: the WHO recommendations/Health Diet Indicator, a Mediterranean-style diet, and a low carbohydrate/high protein diet.
Dietary information was then compared with and correlated with incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease, all-type dementia, and all-type cognitive impairment.
Important Findings:
At the end of the 12 year follow-up:
4% of men developed Alzheimer’s Disease.
6% of men developed all-type dementia.
4% of men developed all-type cognitive impairment.
There were no strong associations between diet and any of the cognitive dysfunction examined in this study.
There was a possible beneficial relationship between a Mediterranean-style diet and all-cognitive impairment.
The results of this study did not find any significant associations between diet and cognitive dysfunction in Swedish elderly men, adding to the already inconsistent results found between studies. The did see a trend toward a possible beneficial relationship between a Mediterranean-style diet and all-cognitive impairment, however, these results were not statistically significant.
Photo by Flickr user Pedro Ribeiro Simões (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/262478037)
It is possible that perhaps the sample size was too small to see any effect, or there are other factors involved that have a stronger influence on cognitive dysfunction than diet alone.
The three diets in this study are somewhat similar, in that they are all considered to be relatively “healthy” diets compared to a Western-style diet. Inclusion of this diet would have been important for this study, as this type of diet is consumed by a significant number of people throughout the world.
It is possible that there weren’t enough participants in this study to be sensitive enough to pick up any real differences in terms of associations with cognitive dysfunction. It’s also possible (and likely) that there is single type of diet for every individual, and there are other factors involved that contribute to the development (or lack thereof) of cognitive dysfunction.
