Affiliations: [a] Geriatric Medicine-Memory Unit and Rare Disease Centre, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy | [b] Neurodegenerative Disease Unit, Department of Basic Medicine, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy | [c] Department of Clinical Research in Neurology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, “Pia Fondazione Cardinale G. Panico”, Tricase, Lecce, Italy
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Vincenzo Solfrizzi, MD, PhD, Geriatric Medicine-Memory Unit and Rare Disease Centre, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy. E-mail: v.solfrizzi@geriatria.uniba.it; Francesco Panza, MD, PhD, Neurodegenerative Disease Unit, Department of Basic Medicine, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy and Department of Clinical Research in Neurology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, “Pia Fondazione Cardinale G. Panico”, Tricase, Lecce, Italy. E-mail: geriat.dot@geriatria.uniba.it.
Abstract: Higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet was associated with decreased cognitive decline, although the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) combines several foods, micronutrients, and macronutrients already separately proposed as potential protective factors against dementia and predementia syndromes. The findings from prospective studies and very recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggested that adherence to the MeDi fulfilling the whole-diet approach may affect not only the risk of Alzheimer's disease, but also of predementia syndromes and their progression to overt dementia. However, some concerns exist regarding how these instruments have been developed for measuring adherence to the MeDi, suggesting a better qualitative and quantitative selection of the individual dietary components and/or food groups to improve their reliability.
