2023-06-28 13:18:58
The first results of the ‘Umberto’ project by Fondazione Veronesi and Irccs Neuromed on the relationship between nutrition and health confirm “the importance of the Mediterranean diet in preventing and controlling the development of cancer and chronic diseases. A research field that has seen important progress in the recent years, but where there is still much to discover”. To take stock of the study programme, just over 6 months after its launch, a delegation from the institution named after the oncologist Umberto Veronesi visited the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the Pozzilli Institute (Isernia). Three days of discussion between the Foundation financing the project and the Neuromed scientists committed to “defining, thanks to advanced tools and the use of the new information technologies of Big data and artificial intelligence – recalls a note – the relationships that link lifestyles , above all the diet and in particular the Mediterranean diet, with the risk of the onset of some tumours”.
The research programme, which envisages a 5-year commitment and an investment of 1,030,000 euros by the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, is based on the analysis of data from the ‘Moli-sani’ project, a maxi epidemiological study which involved over 24 thousand citizens of Molise. “The first results of this scientific alliance are already arriving – report the Foundation and Neuromed – with already published studies that address various aspects of the relationship between nutrition and health. Starting with an aspect that is still little known: subclinical or low-grade inflammation”. Marialaura Bonaccio, manager of the Umberto project explains: “We know that low-grade inflammation is a predisposing factor for chronic-degenerative diseases. And a recent study carried out as part of the project has revealed that adherence to the Mediterranean diet for a extended period of time can reduce this inflammation. In particular, increasing the consumption of good fats, such as those found in olive oil, and grains have been found to be particularly effective in reducing inflammation.”
“Another study – adds Maria Benedetta Donati, director of the Neuromed BioBanking Center – examined the link between diet and the risk of developing tumors of the central nervous system. In this case, ultra-processed foods were specifically studied, those are subjected to multiple stages of processing, such as ready-to-eat foods or packaged snacks, for example, but also ‘unsuspected’ foods such as fruit yoghurt.The research results suggest that an increase in the intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with an increased risk of developing tumors of the central nervous system”. Furthermore, the scientists continue, research conducted as part of the Umberto project has shown that “the increase over the years in the consumption of fiber and monounsaturated fats, two fundamental elements for health, can reduce the common risk factors cardiovascular disease and cancer”.
“With this project we are observing the Mediterranean diet from new angles, to understand how the characteristic foods” of this diet “can influence our long-term risk of developing cancer, in particular of the breast, colorectal and prostate”, says Donati. “We believe it is essential to invest more and more resources not only to improve cancer therapies and diagnoses, but also to prevent their onset – declares Monica Ramaioli, general manager of the Veronesi Foundation – With this innovative platform, a new front of research that sees the Foundation increasingly active in planning and building collaborations between illustrious institutes aimed at identifying new and personalized lines of research for the prevention and treatment of cancer”.
“Thanks to Big data and artificial intelligence – highlights Elena Dogliotti, nutritionist biologist and scientific supervisor for the Veronesi Foundation – scientific research can obtain ever more precise and significant results. What we expect from the project is that elements emerge to be able to transform indications on prevention from generic to personalized. The effects of lifestyles on health are not the same for everyone, nor is the risk of tumors. The Umberto project will bring us ever closer to identifying which is the best approach to primary prevention, in nutrition as in other lifestyles, considering the diversity and characteristics of each person”.
“This meeting with the Veronesi Foundation – comments Giovanni de Gaetano, president of the Irccs Neuromed – was an important opportunity to take stock of the research in progress and the objectives of our common research platform. Better understand the link between the Mediterranean diet and cancer, by better educating the population on the importance of a balanced diet, is a fundamental element of future prevention. It means not only avoiding suffering and premature death, but also having a positive impact on the entire national health system”.
#Mediterranean #diet #protects #cancer #disease