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Fish intake, mercury, long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of stroke in northern Sweden

Wennberg, Maria ; Bergdahl, Ingvar A. ; Stegmayr, Birgitta ; Hallmans, Goran ; Lundh, Thomas LU ; Skerfving, Staffan LU ; Strömberg, Ulf LU ; Vessby, Bengt and Jansson, Jan-Hakan (2007) In British Journal of Nutrition 98(5). p.1038-1045
Abstract
Results of previous studies on fish intake and stroke risk have been inconclusive. Different stroke types have often not been separated. Our aim was to elucidate whether intake of fish, Hg or the sum of proportions of fatty acids EPA (20: 5n-3) and DHA (22: 6n-3) influence the risk of haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke. Within a population-based cohort from a community intervention programme, 369 stroke cases and 738 matched controls were identified and included in the present nested case-control study. Information on fish intake had been recorded at recruitment, i.e. before diagnosis. Hg levels were determined in erythrocyte membranes, also collected at recruitment, and the relative content of fatty acids was measured in erythrocyte... (More)
Results of previous studies on fish intake and stroke risk have been inconclusive. Different stroke types have often not been separated. Our aim was to elucidate whether intake of fish, Hg or the sum of proportions of fatty acids EPA (20: 5n-3) and DHA (22: 6n-3) influence the risk of haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke. Within a population-based cohort from a community intervention programme, 369 stroke cases and 738 matched controls were identified and included in the present nested case-control study. Information on fish intake had been recorded at recruitment, i.e. before diagnosis. Hg levels were determined in erythrocyte membranes, also collected at recruitment, and the relative content of fatty acids was measured in erythrocyte membranes or plasma phospholipids. The results showed that in women there was a non-significant decrease in stroke risk with increasing fish intake (OR 0.90 (95 % CI 0.73, 1.11) per meal per week). The risk in women differed significantly (P=0.03) from that in men, in whom the OR for stroke rose with increasing fish intake (OR 1.24 (95 % CI 1.01, 1.51) per meal per week). The corresponding risk in men for Hg was 0.99 (95 % CI 0.93, 1.06), and for the sum of proportions of EPA and DHA 1.08 (95 % CI 0.92, 1.28). We conclude that the relationship between stroke risk and fish intake seems to be different in men and women. Increased levels of EPA and DHA do not decrease the risk for stroke and there is no association between stroke risk and Hg at these low levels. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Eicosapentaenoic acid, methyl mercury, fish intake, stroke, Docosahexaenoic acid
in
British Journal of Nutrition
volume
98
issue
5
pages
1038 - 1045
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000250752300023
  • scopus:35148819155
  • pmid:17537290
ISSN
1475-2662
DOI
10.1017/S0007114507756519
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
26ce1395-101b-40c6-947e-f7614db9e85d (old id 974420)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:38:47
date last changed
2022-01-26 08:05:36
@article{26ce1395-101b-40c6-947e-f7614db9e85d,
  abstract     = {{Results of previous studies on fish intake and stroke risk have been inconclusive. Different stroke types have often not been separated. Our aim was to elucidate whether intake of fish, Hg or the sum of proportions of fatty acids EPA (20: 5n-3) and DHA (22: 6n-3) influence the risk of haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke. Within a population-based cohort from a community intervention programme, 369 stroke cases and 738 matched controls were identified and included in the present nested case-control study. Information on fish intake had been recorded at recruitment, i.e. before diagnosis. Hg levels were determined in erythrocyte membranes, also collected at recruitment, and the relative content of fatty acids was measured in erythrocyte membranes or plasma phospholipids. The results showed that in women there was a non-significant decrease in stroke risk with increasing fish intake (OR 0.90 (95 % CI 0.73, 1.11) per meal per week). The risk in women differed significantly (P=0.03) from that in men, in whom the OR for stroke rose with increasing fish intake (OR 1.24 (95 % CI 1.01, 1.51) per meal per week). The corresponding risk in men for Hg was 0.99 (95 % CI 0.93, 1.06), and for the sum of proportions of EPA and DHA 1.08 (95 % CI 0.92, 1.28). We conclude that the relationship between stroke risk and fish intake seems to be different in men and women. Increased levels of EPA and DHA do not decrease the risk for stroke and there is no association between stroke risk and Hg at these low levels.}},
  author       = {{Wennberg, Maria and Bergdahl, Ingvar A. and Stegmayr, Birgitta and Hallmans, Goran and Lundh, Thomas and Skerfving, Staffan and Strömberg, Ulf and Vessby, Bengt and Jansson, Jan-Hakan}},
  issn         = {{1475-2662}},
  keywords     = {{Eicosapentaenoic acid; methyl mercury; fish intake; stroke; Docosahexaenoic acid}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1038--1045}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{British Journal of Nutrition}},
  title        = {{Fish intake, mercury, long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of stroke in northern Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114507756519}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0007114507756519}},
  volume       = {{98}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}