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Eggs, cholesterol intake, may not be linked to stroke risk
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Neither egg nor cholesterol intake was associated with the risk for stroke in middle-aged to older men from Finland, including those who carried the genetic phenotype that influences with cholesterol metabolism, according to findings recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“High blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, but few studies have reported on the associations of egg or cholesterol intakes with blood pressure,” Anna Abdollahi, of the University of Eastern Finland’s Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, and colleagues wrote.
Researchers reviewed eating habits and medical records of 1,950 men living in Finland aged 42 to 60 years at baseline.
Abdollahi and colleagues found that during a mean follow-up of 21.2 years, and when comparing the highest to the lowest egg intake quartile, there was no difference in total stroke (adjusted HR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.54-1.23), ischemic stroke (aHR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.53-1.34) or hemorrhagic stroke (aHR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.32-1.77). Similar comparisons that looked at the highest vs. the lowest cholesterol intake quartiles also found no difference in total stroke (aHR = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.57-1.32) ischemic stroke (aHR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.46-1.2) or hemorrhagic stroke (aHR = 1.1; 95% CI, 0.45-2.66).
Researchers also found that though diastolic BP was 1.6 mm Hg lower in the highest vs. the lowest egg intake quartile, there were no links with systolic BP or cholesterol intake. The Apo-E phenotype — present in 32% of the men — did not change these results. In addition, there were 166 instances of ischemic stroke and 55 of hemorrhagic stroke during the follow-up period.
Abdollahi and colleagues acknowledged that findings from other studies in the same clinical area are in conflict with theirs, leaving the definitive nature of the associations found “uncertain.”
Study co-author Jyrki Virtanen, PhD, adjunct professor in nutritional epidemiology at the University of Eastern Finland’s Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, discussed how inconsistent results should be discussed in clinical settings.
“Patients and doctors should never base one’s opinion on a single study, no matter how large it is or how famous the scientist is or in how prestigious journal the findings are published. Patients and clinicians need to consider the whole evidence from different study designs (eg, observational population studies and clinical trials) and different study populations (eg, the findings may be different if the study population includes only healthy participants or if they already have coronary heart disease),” he told Healio Primary Care.
“In most cases, the best dietary approach is moderation, and that is also a good advice when it comes to egg intake,” Viranten added. – by Janel Miller
Disclosures: Virtanen reports that he has received a speaker's fee from the Finnish egg producer company Munax Ltd. None of the other authors report any relevant financial disclosures.