High Carbohydrate Diet Is Associated with Severe Clinical Indicators, but Not with Nutrition Knowledge Score in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Abstract

Although the survival rate of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma has doubled over the last few decades, due to the introduction of new therapeutic lines and improvement of care, other potential contributors to the therapeutic response/relapse of disease, such as nutrient intake, along with nutrition knowledge, have not been assessed during the course of the disease. The purpose of this research was to assess nutrition knowledge and diet quality in a group of patients with a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Anthropometric, clinical and biological assessments and skeletal survey evaluations, along with the assessment of nutritional intake and general nutrition knowledge, were performed on 61 patients with a current diagnosis of multiple myeloma. A low carbohydrate diet score was computed, classified in tertiles, and used as a factor in the analysis. Patients in tertiles indicative of high carbohydrate or low carbohydrate intake showed significant alteration of clinical parameters, such as hemoglobin, uric acid, albumin, total proteins, beta-2 microglobulin, percentage of plasmacytes in the bone marrow and D-dimers, compared to patients in the medium carbohydrate intake tertile. Nutrition knowledge was not associated with clinical indicators of disease status, nor with patterns of nutrient intake. Better knowledge of food types and nutritional value of foods, along with personalized nutritional advice, could encourage patients with MM to make healthier decisions that might extend survival.

Multiple Myeloma: Challenges Encountered and Future Options for Better Treatment

“…On the other hand, dietary FA types such as n-6 PUFA, saturated fatty acids (stearic and palmitic), and trans fatty acids (elaidic) are associated with DNA hypermethylation of the PPARγ1 gene promoter, a key factor in the activation of pro-inflammatory mediators and insulin resistance in macrophages [102,103]. These laboratory findings are in accordance with human studies that associate the intake of omega-3 essential fatty acid (n-3) with a reduced risk of MM, whilst a high intake of saturated fat is associated with poor MM progression [104,105].…”