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20/12/2011 - Events

Bidding farewell to the participants of the PREDIMED study

One of the largest studies on nutritional intervention and the largest to include the Mediterranean diet at an international level

Last 14th December an event was held at the PRBB Auditorium; it was organized by the IMIM Group on Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition to say goodbye to and thank the participants in the PREDIMED study, their involvement, availability and enthusiasm during the four years over which the project has developed (2003-2011). More specifically, a warm goodbye was given to the participants from the Node 06 (IMIM / ICS-Fundació Gol i Gorina), Barcelona Sur, including 587 people.

The PREDIMED study (The Effects of a Mediterranean Diet on Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease) is, at present, one of the largest studies on nutritional intervention and the largest to include the Mediterranean diet at an international level.

This project involved 19 research groups from 7 regions of Spain, including a total of 7,448 individuals presenting cardiovascular risk factors. The objective of the study is to assess the effects of two variants of the Mediterranean diet, rich on virgin olive oil and dried fruits, on primary markers or markers on the development of the disease and also secondary markers, meaning the lipid profile, lipid oxidation, inflammation markers, etc for cardiovascular disease, vs. a control group with a diet low in fat.

The event was organized and moderated by Dr. María Isabel Covas, the coordinator of the IMIM group on cardiovascular risk and nutrition (Hospital del Mar Research Institute) and her team; and at this event there were interventions from Ms. Natalia Molina, the working coordinator of the Node 06, who welcomed participants, Drs. Estruch, the general coordinator of the PREDIMED Study and Ángel Muñoz, the coordinator for Node 06 from ICS-Fundació Gil i Gorina, explaining several aspects of the study, Ms. María Asunción Rovira, the dietician of Node 06, who summarized the dietary interventions in the study and the media impact of the PREDIMED study, and finally, Dr. Marrugat, the director of director of the Inflammatory and Cardiovascular Processes Program of IMIM, who was in charge of closing the session.

The final results of the PREDIMED study are still being processed but the results after 3 months and one year are available, and show the beneficial effects of a traditional Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular and inflammation risk factors, the level of in-vivo oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the features of the metabolic syndrome, the incidence of diabetes and molecular species of triglycerides in very low-density lipoproteins.

The event was attended by around 300 people and ended with a glass of cava to celebrate the success of this project.

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