Milk and Fermented Milk Consumption and Risk of Stroke: Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The role of milk and fermented milk consumption in stroke risk is unclear. We investigated associations of time-updated information on milk and fermented milk consumption (1997 and 2009) with total stroke, cerebral infarction, and hemorrhagic stroke risk among 79,618 Swedish women and men (mean age 61.3 years). During a mean follow-up of 17.7 years, we identified 9735 incident cases of total stroke, of which 7573 were cerebral infarctions, 1470 hemorrhagic strokes, and 692 unspecified strokes. Compared with an intake of 100 g/day of milk, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of cerebral infarction were 1.05 (1.02–1.08) for 0 g/day, 0.97 (0.95–0.99) for 200 g/day, 0.96 (0.92–1.00) for 400 g/day, 0.98 (0.94–1.03) for 600 g/day, and 1.01 (0.94–1.07) for 800 g/day. Corresponding estimates for hemorrhagic stroke were 0.98 (0.91–1.05) for 0 g/day, 1.02 (0.97–1.07) for 200 g/day, 1.07 (0.98–1.17) for 400 g/day, 1.13 (1.02–1.25) for 600 g/day, and 1.19 (1.03–1.36) for 800 g/day. No associations were observed between milk consumption and total stroke or for fermented milk consumption and any of the stroke outcomes. Higher long-term milk consumption based on repeated measures of intake was weakly and non-linearly associated with cerebral infarction, and was directly associated with hemorrhagic stroke.

Saturated fats, dairy foods and cardiovascular health: No longer a curious paradox?

“…Table 4 summarises the findings of dose–response meta‐analyses as reviewed by Givens ( 2021 ). Overall, they broadly agree with earlier meta‐analyses that dairy product consumption has a neutral effect on CVD risk although the results do point to an association with reduced risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes with consumption of milk and yogurt, respectively, although it is noteworthy that the recent study of Olsson et al ( 2022 ) in ~80 000 Swedish subjects found that whilst milk consumption was not clearly associated with total stroke, it was weakly and non‐linearly associated with ischaemic stroke and directly associated with haemorrhagic stroke. No associations were seen for fermented milk.…”

Dairy foods and cardiometabolic diseases: an update and a reassessment of the impact of SFA

“…cheese and yoghurt) was associated with a reduced risk of cerebrovascular diseases compared with consumption of less than 57 g/d (HR 0•81, 95 % CI: 0•66, 0•98). The recent findings of Olsson et al (43) in about 80 000 Swedish participants agreed with the results of Sellem et al (42) finding that milk consumption up to 800 g/d (compared with 100 g/d) was not clearly associated with risk of stroke (all types together), but found contrary results for milk and haemorrhagic stroke where an intake of 800 g/d (compared with 100 g/d) had an HR of 1•19 (95 % CI: 1•03, 1 •36). No associations were seen for fermented milk.…”

High consumption of dairy products and risk of major adverse coronary events and stroke in a Swedish population

“…subarachnoid and intracerebral stroke). In another large Swedish cohort study, high intake of non-fermented milk was also positively associated with haemorrhagic stroke, while there was no association with ischaemic stroke (25) . In addition, in the European EPIC cohort with 12·7 years of follow-up (where MDCS is one of the centres), a protective association was found with ischaemic stroke and a marginally higher risk of haemorrhagic stroke, especially after excluding the first 4 years of follow-up (26) .…”