Dietetic guidelines: diet in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease

Aim To produce dietetic guidelines summarizing the systematic review eviden ce on dietary advice for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Methods The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE were comprehensively searc hed for systematic reviews on aspects of diet and heart health. Reviews wer e included if they searched systematically for randomised controlled trials relating to diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Two m embers of the UK Heart Health and Thoracic Dietitians Group critically appr aised each review. The quality and results of each review were discussed an d summarized in a whole group meeting. The guidelines were trialled in seve n dietetic departments and modified where necessary. Results Providing evidence-based dietary information (including increasing omega-3 fat plus fruit and vegetable intake) to all people after myocardial infarction will save more lives than concentrating dietary advice on those in need of weight loss or lipid lowering. The practice of prioritizing die tetic time to those with raised lipids is out of date since the advent of s tatin therapy. Conclusion There is good systematic review evidence that dietary advice to those with cardiovascular disease can reduce mortality and morbidity as wel l as modify risk factors. Dietary advice that does this most effectively sh ould be prioritized.