Fish consumption and risk of stroke: a second prospective case-control study from northern Sweden.

Maria Wennberg,Jan-Håkan Jansson,Staffan Skerfving,Ulf Strömberg,Per-Gunnar Wiklund,Ingvar A Bergdahl,Margareta Norberg

doi:10.1186/s12937-016-0216-3

Maria Wennberg, Jan-Håkan Jansson + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-016-0216-3

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Abstract

BackgroundFish consumption has been concluded to be associated with decreased risk of stroke in several reviews. However, among men, but not women, an increased risk of stroke was previously found at high fish consumption (>3 meals/week) in northern Sweden. This study investigates if previous results on elevated stroke risk with high fish consumption in men in northern Sweden can be confirmed in a larger study with new cases in the same population.MethodsA prospective nested case-control study was performed within the population-based Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study cohort. Information on fish consumption, other lifestyle and medical data was collected at baseline. Incident stroke cases (1987–2007, n = 735) were identified and 2698 controls matched for gender, age, year of baseline and geographical region.ResultsThere were no associations between total fish or fatty fish consumption and stroke risk; thus the previous finding of increased risk of stroke with high fish consumption in men could not be repeated. High intake of lean fish (>twice/week compared to < once/month) was associated with increased stroke risk in men [OR 1.80 (95% CI 1.00, 3.21), but not in women [OR 0.50 (95% CI 0.24, 1.10)]. The association was driven by men living alone.ConclusionsThe previous association between high total fish consumption and risk of stroke in men could not be repeated. The increased risk found in men with high intake of lean fish may be due to chance or confounding specific for this group.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12937-016-0216-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Fish consumption has been associated with protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in several epidemiological studies, reviewed by e.g. Wang et al and Konig et al [1, 2], and recently updated by Kromhout and de Goede [3]
The study could not explain the finding of increased risk of stroke in male high-consumers of fish found by Wennberg et al [8], but underlined the importance of having control of other lifestyle variables in studies concerning fish consumption and health outcomes
The aim of the study was to find out if previous results on elevated stroke risk with high fish consumption in men in northern Sweden could be confirmed in a new study

Summary

Introduction

Fish consumption has been associated with protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in several epidemiological studies, reviewed by e.g. Wang et al and Konig et al [1, 2], and recently updated by Kromhout and de Goede [3]. We got conflicting results in our case-control study from northern Sweden [8], with an increased risk for stroke seen in men Wennberg et al Nutrition Journal (2016) 15:98 consumption of wine in women. We wanted to repeat the study in a larger dataset This prospective study on fish consumption and stroke risk is based on a follow-up to year 2007 of the same cohorts that were studied by Wennberg et al [8]. The aim of the study was to find out if previous results on elevated stroke risk with high fish consumption in men in northern Sweden could be confirmed in a new study. This study investigates if previous results on elevated stroke risk with high fish consumption in men in northern Sweden can be confirmed in a larger study with new cases in the same population

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