Abstract P320: Dairy Consumption and Risk of Stroke: A Systematic Review and Dose-response Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Abstract

Introduction: A higher milk consumption may be associated with a lower stroke risk. We conducted a comprehensive systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of milk and other dairy products with stroke risk. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that milk and possibly other types of dairy consumption were inversely associated with stroke risk. Methods: Through a systematic literature search prospective cohort studies of dairy foods and incident stroke in stroke-free adults were identified. Random-effects meta-analyses with summarized dose-response data were performed taking into account sources of heterogeneity and spline models were used to systematically investigate nonlinearity of the associations. Results: We included 17 studies with 10-26 years of follow-up that included 675,389 individuals and 28,912 stroke events. An increment of 200 gram of daily milk intake was associated with a 7% lower risk of stroke (RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88-0.97; P=0.003; I2=85%). RRs were 0.82 (95% CI 0.75-0.90) in East Asian and 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-1.01) in Western countries (median intakes 38 and 266 g/d respectively) with moderate heterogeneity within the continents. Cheese intake was marginally inversely associated with stroke risk (RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.94-1.01 per 40 g/d). Risk reductions were maximal around 125 g/d for milk and from 25 g/d onwards for cheese. Based on a limited number of studies, low-fat milk was inversely and high-fat milk directly associated with stroke risk. No associations were found for yogurt, butter or total dairy. Conclusions: Milk and cheese consumption were inversely associated with stroke risk. Future epidemiological studies should provide more details about dairy types, including fat content. In addition, the role of dairy in Asian populations deserves further attention.