Mediterranean diet and childhood asthma.

Auteur(s) :
Calatayud Moscoso Del Prado B., Alguacil Merino LF., Calatayud-Sáez FM., Gallego Fernández-Pacheco JG., González-Martín C.
Date :
Août, 2015
Source(s) :
Allergologia et immunopathologia. # p
Adresse :
Clínica "La Palma", Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected]

Sommaire de l'article

BACKGROUND:
The incidence of bronchial hyperreactivity has increased to one-third of the population in developed countries, which requires the adoption of preventive and therapeutic measures. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of a traditional Mediterranean diet on patients diagnosed with childhood asthma and determine if there is a beneficial effect from this dietary intervention.

METHODS:
Prospective before-after comparison study of 50 girls and 54 boys aged 1-5 years, who were enrolled in the 1-year programme "Learning to Eat from the Mediterranean", designed to promote the adoption of a traditional Mediterranean diet. We studied the clinical and therapeutic variables and anthropometric measurements.

RESULTS:
All studied symptomatic indicators (number and intensity of asthmatic attack, infections and hospital admissions) showed a positive and statistically significant evolution of bronchial hyperreactivity from the first weeks of the intervention onwards. Throughout the treatment, 32.2% of patients remained free of crisis, 35.3% of the patients only had one attack throughout the year and 24.9% had two episodes, compared to 4.73 episodes on average in the previous year. The use of inhaled corticosteroids markedly decreased from 3.92±1.61 to 1.11±1.09 times per patient per year (P<0.001) and that of inhaled bronchodilators decreased from 4.14±1.61 to 1.12±1.40 (P<0.001). As a result, the families involved in the programme reported a high level of satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS:
The adoption of a traditional Mediterranean diet could contribute significantly to the improvement of patients diagnosed with childhood asthma.

Source : Pubmed
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