Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Physicians' Health Study.
BACKGROUND
A reduction in dietary cholesterol is recommended to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although eggs are important sources of cholesterol and other nutrients, limited and inconsistent data are available on the effects of egg consumption on the risk of CVD and mortality.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to examine the association between egg consumption and the risk of CVD and mortality.


METHODS
In a prospective cohort study of 21,327 participants from Physicians' Health Study I, egg consumption was assessed with an abbreviated food questionnaire. Cox regression was used to estimate relative risks.


RESULTS
In an average follow-up of 20 y, 1550 new myocardial infarctions (MIs), 1342 incident strokes, and 5169 deaths occurred. Egg consumption was not associated with incident MI or stroke in a multivariate Cox regression. In contrast, adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for mortality were 1.0 (reference), 0.94 (0.87, 1.02), 1.03 (0.95, 1.11), 1.05 (0.93, 1.19), and 1.23 (1.11, 1.36) for the consumption of <1, 1, 2-4, 5-6, and > or = 7 eggs/wk, respectively (P for trend < 0.0001). This association was stronger among diabetic subjects, in whom the risk of death in a comparison of the highest with the lowest category of egg consumption was twofold (hazard ratio: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.26, 3.20; P for interaction = 0.09).


CONCLUSIONS
Infrequent egg consumption does not seem to influence the risk of CVD in male physicians. In addition, egg consumption was positively related to mortality, more strongly so in diabetic subjects, in the study population.
Djoussé
Luc
L
Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont Street, 3rd floor, Boston MA 02120, USA. ldjousse@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Gaziano
J Michael
JM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004531:Eggs / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary