science

Predimed

Predimed is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Predimed rather than just read about it. In short: PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet)) was a large Spanish primary prevention trial which included 7,447 Spanish participants (55–80 years, 58% women) who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease, but otherwise healthy (initially free of cardiovascular disease). They were randomly assigned to receive interventions with intensive education to one of three diets: Mediterr…

Key takeaways

Predimed belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Predimed to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Predimed from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet)) was a large Spanish primary prevention trial which included 7,447 Spanish participants (55–80 years, 58% women) who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease, but otherwise healthy (initially free of cardiovascular disease). They were randomly assigned to receive interventions with intensive education to one of three diets:

Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil. Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts. Control diet encouraging low-fat food items. The trial was planned for six years, but it was terminated early after a median follow-up of 4.8 years, and demonstrated that both Mediterranean diet groups reached a statistically significant reduction in the rate of the composite cardiovascular primary end-point of myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death. This corresponded to an absolute reduction in 3 less cardiovascular events per 1000 patient-years, or a 30% relative risk reduction. Other important observed benefits included a strong reduction in peripheral artery disease, breast cancer, and atrial fibrillation (only associated with the consumption of extra-virgin olive oil).

Criticisms Some criticisms included that the protocol for the low-fat control group was changed during the trial, there were losses to follow up in the low-fat group which may have biased the results, and that a true low-fat diet was not achieved by the control group. Additionally, participants lived in a Mediterranean country. Thus, it is unclear if the results will be applicable to other non-Mediterranean settings. Despite these criticisms, there is no other dietary pattern with such a strong evidence of cardiovascular benefit, supported by this major trial and by the Lyon Diet-Heart Study but also reinforced by a multitude of other large and well-conducted observational studies. The transferability of the Mediterranean diet to other geographical regions far from the Mediterranean Sea represents the next main challenges. Arnav Agarwal and John Ioannidis note that "republication may not solve multiple problems that remain, including the inappropriateness of stopping early given the revised results and the effects on over 200 secondary publications" and "multiple contradictions between data reported across PREDIMED publications suggest a more generic problem with the trial's quality". The core publication was retracted and republished as a non-randomised study.

Network The trial was multicenter with eleven field centers:

Málaga Sevilla Baleares Barcelona, two centers Reus Navarra Vitoria Valencia Two other centers were late incorporations (Belvitge and Canary Islands). The field work started in 2003 in the vanguard center of PREDIMED-NAVARRA (University of Navarra) and the trial was completed in 2011 following the recommendation of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Frank B. Hu, Joan Sabaté and Carlos A. González). The main paper with the final cardiovascular results was published in 2013, but retracted and immediately republished in 2018 because of errors in statistical methodology, which were revised in the republished paper.

Principal investigators The coordinators and principal investigators of the PREDIMED Research Networks were R. Estruch (2003–2005) from Hospital Clinic (Barcelona) and M.A. Martinez-González (2006–2013) from University of Navarra (Spain).

References

External links Link to the study report

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Predimed

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Predimed claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Predimed before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Predimed ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Predimed

In research: Predimed appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Predimed in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Predimed is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2013 in health, Clinical trials related to cardiology, Health effects of food and nutrition, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Predimed outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Predimed in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Predimed means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Predimed out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Predimed in simple terms?

Why does Predimed matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Predimed?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Predimed.