Predimed Plus, among the studies that will change medicine in the world, according to the journal Nature Medicine
The publication has interviewed the principal investigators of these trials, including Professor Jordi Salas-Salvadó, coordinator of the project’s Steering Committee.
The selected trials are being carried out in various parts of the world, from the United States, through different European countries, to Australia. Most of them try to clarify the role of certain drugs (some new) for the treatment of different pathologies, such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease. However, others deal with the early detection of cervical cancer in women vaccinated against the human papillomavirus or the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 in patients affected by the human immunodeficiency virus, as reported by CIBERobn.
Among the trials highlighted by the magazine, only the Predimed Plus study refers to evaluating the importance of lifestyle on disease prevention. This is a multicenter, randomized clinical trial for the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, which is being carried out with the participation of more than 6,800 men and women aged 55 to 75 who are overweight or obese and have metabolic syndrome. The project, promoted from the CIBERobn area of the Carlos III Health Institute, seeks to determine the effects of an intensive weight loss intervention based on a traditional hypocaloric Mediterranean Diet, the promotion of physical activity and behavioral support on the appearance of new cardiovascular disease events and mortality. In addition, it will shed light on the importance of losing weight in the long term (through a hypocaloric diet and physical exercise) on the incidence of obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer, dementia of different origins and many other diseases associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, as well as its potential effect on quality or life expectancy and the mechanisms involved.
According to Professor Salas-Salvadó, head of the CIBERobn group, “the international community is awaiting the results with great expectation since no one has yet shown that weight loss, achieved with a healthy diet and physical exercise and maintained over time, reduce the possibility of suffering a myocardial infarction, cerebral embolism or mortality from these causes”.
The recruitment of volunteers for the Predimed Plus study began in 2013 and ended in 2016. This multicenter project in which 23 recruiting research centers (universities, research centers or hospitals) and seven support centers (laboratories and others) have participated. He has already published more than 100 scientific articles in medical, nutrition, cardiology and other health journals. According to CIBERobn, the final results of the study are therefore highly anticipated by the international community and will be available by the end of 2025.
Salas-Salvadó has indicated that “this project could not have been possible without the collaboration and complicity of many primary care doctors and more than 200 researchers, dietitians-nutritionists, nursing staff, laboratory technicians and other health professionals of our country, convinced of the importance of Predimed Plus for the future of Public Health in the world”.
The study is funded by different Spanish, European or United States institutions, the main funding body being the Carlos III Health Institute through multiple competitive projects and the network structures CIBER (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red del Instituto Carlos III ).
According to Carlos Diéguez, scientific director of CIBERobn, “the firm support of the Carlos III Institute for this project will allow Spain to position itself as an international benchmark in research in the field of disease prevention through diet and lifestyle.” life”.
Professor Jordi Salas-Salvadó is currently Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and ICREA-Academy Researcher at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV); Director of the URV/IISPV Research Group on Food, Nutrition and Mental Health recognized by the Generalitat of Catalonia; principal investigator of the CIBERobn of the Carlos III Health Institute; and coordinator of its nutrition program that includes 24 highly recognized Spanish research groups from different Autonomous Communities.
