title: Dairy intake and coronary heart disease or stroke--a population-based cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the relationship between total dairy intake and dairy subtypes (high-fat dairy, low-fat dairy, milk and milk products, cheese and fermented dairy) with incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  EPIC-NL is a prospective cohort study among 33,625 Dutch men and women. At baseline (1993-1997), dairy intake was measured with a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The incidence of both fatal and non-fatal CHD and stroke was obtained by linkage to the national registers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 13 years follow-up, 1648 cases of CHD and 531 cases of stroke were documented. Total dairy intake was not significantly associated with risk of CHD (hazard ratio per standard deviation (SD) increase=0.99; 95%-CI: 0.94-1.05) or stroke (0.95; 0.85-1.05) adjusted for lifestyle and dietary factors. None of the dairy subtypes was to CHD, while only fermented dairy tended to be associated (p=0.07) with a lower risk of stroke (0.92; 0.83-1.01). Hypertension appeared to modify the association of total and low-fat dairy with CHD (p interaction<0.02). Among participants without hypertension, but not among hypertensive participants, total (0.92; 0.85-1.02) and low-fat (0.94; 0.87-1.02) dairy tended to be associated with a lower risk of CHD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide no evidence that dairy products are associated with risk of CHD or stroke. High intakes of total and low-fat dairy may be associated with a lower risk of CHD among participants without hypertension, while fermented dairy could be associated with a reduced risk of stroke.
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. G.W.Dalmeijer@umcutrecht.nl
authors.forename: Geertje W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Dalmeijer
authors.forename: Ellen A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Struijk
authors.forename: Yvonne T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: van der Schouw
authors.forename: Sabita S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Soedamah-Muthu
authors.forename: W M Monique
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Verschuren
authors.forename: Jolanda M A
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Boer
authors.forename: Johanna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Geleijnse
authors.forename: Joline W J
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Beulens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003611:Dairy Products; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats