ABSTRACT
Mediterranean diet has been related to a low risk of coronary hearth disease. In the present study, we have evaluated the effect of substituting 120 g of meat by 120 g of acorn-fed Iberian ham (one of the meat components of the Mediterranean diet) on body weight, blood pressure (MAP), plasma lipids and oxidant-antioxidant equilibrium in 13 males and 8 females with an average age of 71. Study was performed in three periods: basal diet evaluations (BD1), ham diet for 6 weeks (HD), and basal diet again for 6 weeks (BD2). MAP significantly diminished from 96 mmHg in BD1 to 89 mmHg after HD. After BD2, MAP remained in the same value. Plasma total antioxidant substances increased from 0.791 mmol/L in BD1, to 1.525 in HD, and to 1.213 in BD2. Glutathione reductase significantly increased from 49.5 U/L in BD1 to 57 in HD and decreased to 49.2 in BD2. Glutathione peroxidase rose from 33 U/gHb in BD1 to 72 in HD and decreased to 52 in BD2. Superoxide dismutase increased from 401 U/gHb in BD1 to 723 in HD and decreased to 433 in BD2. Plasma thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) fall from 1.65 mmol/l in BD1 to 1.38 in HD and to 1.47 in BD2. TBARS in erythrocyte membranes also diminished but only in BD2. It can be concluded that including acorn-fed Iberian ham in the diet increased the antioxidant substances and decrease lipid peroxidation, with its subsequent beneficial effects on the atherogenic risk factors.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants/analysis , Dietary Proteins/administration & dosage , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Meat , Oxidative Stress/drug effects , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Blood Pressure/drug effects , Body Weight/drug effects , Coronary Disease/etiology , Coronary Disease/prevention & control , Female , Glutathione Peroxidase/analysis , Glutathione Reductase/analysis , Humans , Lipids/blood , Male , Superoxide Dismutase/analysis , Swine , Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances/analysisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the cardiovascular risk profile of the persons older than 65 years of age who participated in different "Days on Cholesterol and Atherosclerosis" organized during 1999 in different towns of the province of Salamanca. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The volunteers of any age were subjected to a questionnaire and to several clinical and laboratory measurements. RESULTS: The age of 267 volunteers (40.8% males) attending the campaign was > or = 65 years. The mean values of the studied parameters were: age = 72.3 +/- 6.5 years; body mass index (BMI) = 26.8 +/- 4.5 kg/m2; systolic blood pressure (SBP) = 139.8 +/- 20.6 mmHg; dystolic blood pressure (DBP) = 80.0 +/- 10.1 mmHg; and total cholesterol (TC) = 226.2 +/- 44.9 mg/dl. The percentage of smoking habit was 5.2%. The figures of SBP showed positive significant correlation with those of age (p < 0.05) and DBP (p < 0.01). Among males, the age evolved inversely to the numbers of TC (p < 0.01). Globally, 203 volunteers (76.0%) had concentrations of TC > or = 200 mg/dl; 78 (29.2%) > or = 250 mg/dl; and 12 (4.5%) concentrations > or = 300 mg/dl. We detected blood pressure levels of SBP > or = 140 mmHg in 143 (53.6%) individuals; SBP > or = 180 mmHg in 11 (4.1%); DBP > or = 90 mmHg in 72 (27.0%); and DBP > or = 110 mmHg in 4 (1.5%). The BMI was > or = 30 kg/m2 in 54 (20.2%) people of the study. 90.8% of the volunteers with previous cardiovascular disease carried, at least, another not controlled cardiovascular risk factor; 24.1% had at least two risk factors; and 9.1% had, at least, three. In 38.5% they showed high levels of TC and DBP, simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS: Our data, together with the current evidences about the benefit of the control of cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly, suggest the necessity to establish strategies for a better control of the cardiovascular risk in this group of age in our province.
