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Unprocessed red meat and processed meat consumption and risk of stroke in the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 70, pages 313–319 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

High intakes of unprocessed red or processed meat may increase the risk of stroke. We aimed to examine the association between unprocessed red meat, processed meat and total red meat consumption and risk of total stroke and ischaemic stroke.

Subjects/Methods:

Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted based on the data for 41 020 men and women aged 29–69 years at baseline.

Results:

During a mean follow-up of 13.8 years, 674 incident cases of stroke (531 ischaemic strokes, 79 haemorrhagic strokes, 42 subarachnoid haemorrhages and 22 mixed or unspecified events) were identified. After multiple adjustment, unprocessed red meat, processed meat and total red meat consumption were not correlated with incidence of total stroke or ischaemic stroke in either men or women. The hazard ratios (HRs) for unprocessed red meat and processed meat and risk of total stroke comparing the highest with the lowest quintiles were, respectively, 0.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–1.21; P-trend=0.15) and 0.92 (95% CI 0.64–1.32; P-trend=0.82) in men and 1.21 (95% CI 0.79–1.85; P-trend=0.10) and 0.81 (95% CI 0.51–1.27; P-trend=0.17) in women. The HRs for unprocessed red meat and processed meat and risk of ischaemic stroke were, respectively, 0.80 (95% CI 0.51–1.25; P-trend=0.51) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.57–1.29; P-trend=0.77) in men and 1.24 (95% CI 0.74–2.05; P-trend=0.13) and 0.82 (95% CI 0.47–1.42; P-trend=0.31) in women.

Conclusions:

In the Spanish European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, unprocessed red meat and processed meat consumption were not associated with risk of stroke in men or women.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participants in the Spanish EPIC cohort for their contribution to this study as well as the team of nurses who participated in the recruitment.

Author information

Author notes

  1. P Amiano, S Chamosa and N Etxezarreta: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa, Government of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain

    P Amiano, S Chamosa, N Etxezarreta, L Arriola & M Dorronsoro

  2. BioDonostia Research Institute, San Sebastian, Spain

    P Amiano, S Chamosa, N Etxezarreta, L Arriola, N Egües & M Dorronsoro

  3. Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública-CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    P Amiano, N Etxezarreta, L Arriola, M-J Sánchez, E Ardanaz, E Molina-Montes, M-D Chirlaque, J-M Huerta, C Navarro & M Dorronsoro

  4. Andalusian School of Public Health and Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (Granada.ibs), Granada, Spain

    M-J Sánchez, E Molina-Montes & M Requena

  5. Navarre Public Health Institute, Pamplona, Spain

    E Ardanaz & C Moreno-Iribas

  6. Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council, Murcia, Spain

    M-D Chirlaque, J-M Huerta & C Navarro

  7. Research Network for Health Services in Chronic Disease (REDISSEC), Pamplona, Spain

    C Moreno-Iribas

  8. Donostia University Hospital, San Sebastian, Spain

    N Egües

  9. Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    C Navarro

  10. Public Health and Health Planning Directorate, Oviedo, Spain

    J-R Quirós

  11. Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO-IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

    A Fonseca-Nunes, P Jakszyn & C-A González

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  1. P Amiano
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  2. S Chamosa
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  3. N Etxezarreta
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  4. L Arriola
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  15. A Fonseca-Nunes
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  18. M Dorronsoro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P Amiano.

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Amiano, P., Chamosa, S., Etxezarreta, N. et al. Unprocessed red meat and processed meat consumption and risk of stroke in the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Eur J Clin Nutr 70, 313–319 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2015.150

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2015.150

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