Search

Purpose: The role of dairy fat for the risk of stroke is not yet clear. Adipose tissue reflects long-term fatty acid intake and metabolism. We, therefore, investigated associations for percentages of adipose tissue fatty acids, for which dairy products are a major source (12:0, 14:0, 14:1 cis-9, 15:0, 17:0, 18:1 trans-11 and 18:2 cis-9, trans-11), with incident total stroke and stroke subtypes., Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study within the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, including all incident stroke cases (n = 2108) and a random sample of the total cohort (n = 3186). The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue biopsies was determined by gas chromatography and specific fatty acids were expressed as percentage of total fatty acids. Stroke cases were identified in the Danish National Patient Registry and the diagnoses were individually verified., Results: We recorded 2108 stroke cases of which 1745 were ischemic, 249 were intracerebral hemorrhages and 102 were subarachnoid hemorrhages. We observed a lower rate of ischemic stroke for a higher adipose tissue percentage of 12:0, 14:0, 15:0, 17:0, 18:1 trans-11 and 18:2 cis-9, trans-11. Adipose tissue percentages of 15:0 and 18:1 trans-11 were also inversely associated with intracerebral hemorrhage, whereas no associations between the adipose tissue fatty acids and subarachnoid hemorrhage were observed. No associations between 14:1 cis-9 and ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were found., Conclusions: Our results suggest that a larger percentage in adipose tissue of fatty acids for which dairy products are a major source is associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke.

Low fat dairy products are part of dietary guidelines to prevent stroke. However, epidemiological evidence is inconclusive with regard to the association between dairy products and stroke. We therefore investigated associations for substitutions between dairy product subgroups and risk of total stroke and stroke subtypes. We included 55,211 Danish men and women aged 50-64 years without previous stroke. Baseline diet was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. Cases were identified through a national register and subsequently verified. The associations were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regression. During a median follow-up of 13.4 years, we identified 2272 strokes, of which 1870 were ischemic (318 large artery atherosclerotic, 839 lacunar, 102 cardioembolic, 98 other determined types, 513 of unknown type), 389 were hemorrhages (273 intracerebral, 116 subarachnoid) and 13 of unknown etiology. Substitution of semi-skimmed fermented milk or cheese for whole-fat fermented milk was associated with a higher rate of ischemic stroke [semi-skimmed fermented milk: hazard ratio (HR) = 1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99-1.45), cheese: HR = 1.14 (95% CI 0.98-1.31) per serving/day substituted] and substitutions of whole-fat fermented milk for low-fat milk, whole-fat milk or buttermilk were associated with a lower rate [low-fat milk: HR = 0.85 (95% CI 0.74-0.99), whole-fat milk: HR = 0.84 (95% CI 0.71-0.98) and buttermilk: HR = 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.99)]. We observed no associations for substitutions between dairy products and hemorrhagic stroke. Our results suggest that intake of whole-fat fermented milk as a substitution for semi-skimmed fermented milk, cheese, buttermilk or milk, regardless of fat content, is associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke.