Abstract
BackgroundAtrial Fibrillation is highly prevalent in clinical practice affecting approximately 2.3 million people in USA and 4.5 million people in European Union. The aim of the study was to examine the association between nut consumption and incident atrial fibrillation.MethodsProspective cohort of 21,054 male participants of Physicians' Health Study I. Nut consumption was estimated using food frequency questionnaire and incident atrial fibrillation was ascertained through yearly follow-up questionnaires. Cox regression was used to estimate relative risks of atrial fibrillation.ResultsThe average age was 54.6 ± 9.5 years (40.7-87.1). During a mean follow up of 20 years (median 24 years), 3,317 cases of atrial fibrillation occurred. The crude incidence rate was 7.6, 7.4, 8.2, 7.9, and 6.8 cases/1000 person-years for people reporting nut consumption of rarely/never, 1-3/month, 1/per week, 2-6/week, and ≥ 7/week, respectively. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for incident atrial fibrillation were 1.00 (ref), 1.00 (0.90-1.11), 1.09 (0.97-1.21), 1.07 (0.95-1.21), and 0.91 (0.70-1.17) for nut consumption from the lowest to the highest category of nut consumption (p for trend 0.26). No statistically significant association between nut consumption and atrial fibrillation was found when stratified by body mass index (BMI < 25 vs ≥ 25 kg/m2) or age (< 65 vs. ≥ 65 years).ConclusionsOur data did not show an association between nut consumption and incident atrial fibrillation among US male physicians.
Highlights
Atrial Fibrillation is highly prevalent in clinical practice affecting approximately 2.3 million people in USA and 4.5 million people in European Union
Frequent nut consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of current smoking and HTN while a higher prevalence of physical activity, fruit/vegetable intake, and cereal intake
Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for incident Atrial Fibrillation (AF) were 1.00, 1.00 (0.90-1.11), 1.09 (0.97-1.21), 1.07 (0.95-1.21), and 0.91 (0.70-1.17) for nut consumption of rarely/never, 1-3 per month, 1 per week, 2-6 per week, and ≥ 7 per week with p for linear trend of 0.26 (Table 2)
Summary
Atrial Fibrillation is highly prevalent in clinical practice affecting approximately 2.3 million people in USA and 4.5 million people in European Union. The aim of the study was to examine the association between nut consumption and incident atrial fibrillation. Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is highly prevalent in clinical practice affecting approximately 2.3 million people in USA and 4.5 million people in European Union [1,2]. The incidence of AF increases by about 0.1%-0.2% per year after the age of 40 while AF prevalence ranges from 2%-4% in people over 60 years of age to 8% in people over 80 years of age [3,4,5,6]. AF is associated with 2-7 fold increased risk of ischemic stroke [8,9,10,11] and is associated with a higher rate of mortality [7,10,11].
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