The RISTOMED study: Gender differences in response to dietary supplementation

Patrizia d'Alessio, Rita Ostan, Luzia Valentini, Isabelle Bourdel-Marchasson, Alessandro Pinto, Fabio Buccolini, Claudio Franceschi, Marie C Bené present results of a study examining the impact of diet on quality of life Full title Gender differences in response to dietary supplementation by orange peel extract in elderly people in the RISTOMED study: impact on quality of life and inflammation. A number of health issues have shown to be questionable when considered from the perspective of gender differences. Quality of life parameters in particular, seem to be experienced differently by men and women. Depression - one of the hallmarks of the ageing population, particularly affecting women because of greater longevity - has a causal role in the development and course of cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiological data demonstrate that depression and anxiety are approximately twice as common in women as in men. This gender difference emerges during adolescence and persists later in life, and into old age. Furthermore, it is well recognised that inflammation contributes to the development of depression. In this article, the authors report a study performed in elderly healthy men and women, examining biological and behavioural responses after 56 days of a specifically developed dietary programme, with or without anti-inflammatory dietary supplementation, with an orange peel extract (OPE) containing d-Limonene; the European study RISTOMED. The authors show an impact of both gender and initial inflammation status on the effects of dietary control. OPE was more efficient in subjects with an initially high inflammatory status and improved both interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and depression scores in women.