NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) -- A 'celebrity' doctor's strict anti-heart disease diet may be prolonging the lives of heart patients and saving millions in medical costs, researchers say.
Dr. Dean Ornish, developer of the 'Ornish program', says that after one year on his low-fat, "lifestyle-modification program," participants "reduced their frequency of chest pain, lowered cholesterol, and lost weight while significantly increasing their exercise capacity and quality of life in every category we measured."
The program includes a low-fat (fat makes up less than 10% of calories) diet which bars participants from eating red meats, chicken, and even nuts. Regular exercise and stress-management therapies round out the Ornish program.
The insurance company Mutual of Omaha already provides coverage for the program for its members in an attempt to prevent serious heart disease. The company conducted a study of over 500 heart patients who had spent a year on the Ornish program. Their findings include:
-- a 65% decrease in the number of patients experiencing angina, or chest pain. "Of those still experiencing angina, the frequency and severity decreased, on average, often dramatically," according to Mutual of Omaha researchers;
-- blood cholesterol levels "dropped from 205 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) to 186 mg/dL, even though most patients stopped taking cholesterol-lowering drugs when they entered the program." Cholesterol levels under 200 mg/dl are considered within the 'safe' range, experts say;
-- hi-tech scans of the heart revealed that many patients experienced cessation or reversal of the progression of their heart disease;
-- and exercise tolerance (measured on a treadmill) "improved 22%," according to the study.
There were also financial rewards, researchers say. Heart patients enrolled in the Ornish program cost Mutual of Omaha a maximum of just over $5,000 per person per year. For those patients not on the Ornish plan, the insurers say, treatments for heart problems cost double or nearly triple that amount.
For the 507 patients involved in the study, Mutual of Omaha believe the Ornish program "would have reduced illness treatment costs by more than $7 million."
Phil Kibak, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association (AHA), says the AHA believe the diet "has merit." But he believes, "Dr. Ornish's program is not for the general American public. His program is geared specifically for people with diagnosed coronary artery disease." The Ornish program is also "very restrictive," Kibak says. "It takes a special kind of patient -- you have to be extremely motivated."
Based on the study, Mutual of Omaha has decided to continue its coverage of the doctor's regimen.
Ornish, author of a best seller -- "Eat More, Weigh Less" -- is also receiving Mutual of Omaha funding to study whether his regimen can help patients avoid heart attacks and cardiac surgeries such as angioplasty and bypass surgery.
