title: [Cured ham and incidence of cardiovascular events, arterial hypertension or weight gain].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cured ham is a characteristic food of Spanish Mediterranean diet. However, no prospective epidemiologic study assessing its effects on human health is available. Our aim was to assess the association between the consumption of cured ham and cardiovascular disease, hypertension or weight gain.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective and dynamic epidemiologic cohort composed exclusively of university graduates (the SUN Project, n=13,293), we analyzed the incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and average yearly weight gain after a maximum follow-up of 6 years. Cox (proportional hazards) regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios (relative risks [RR]) after adjusting for potential confounding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No association was found between higher levels of consumption of cured ham (>4 servings/week) and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (RR=1.02; [95%CI]: 0.44-2.39), in analyses adjusted for age, sex, total energy intake and mediterranean dietary pattern, compared to the consumption of less than one serving a week. When we repeated this comparison for the incidence of hypertension, and adjusting for age, sex, total energy intake and mediterranean dietary pattern the RR was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.55-1.01). In the comparison of average yearly weight gain between these extreme categories of cured ham consumption (<1 versus > or =4 servings/week) a non-significant difference of 0.039 kg (95%IC: -0.036 to 0.113) was found after adjusting for sex, age, total energy intake, mediterranean dietary pattern, smoking, physical activity, and baseline body mass index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this cohort study do not support any association between the consumption of cured ham and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension or weight gain.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Humanidades Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, España. mcanela@unav.es
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Canela López
authors.forename: Maira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bes-Rastrollo
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zazpe
authors.forename: J Alfredo
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuervo
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martínez-González
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013552:Swine; D015430:Weight Gain