title: Dairy products and the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined whether consumption of total dairy and dairy subgroups was related to incident stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) in a general older Dutch population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 4,235 participants of the Rotterdam Study aged 55 and over who were free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes at baseline (1990-1993). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for the intake of total dairy and dairy subgroups in relation to incident CVD events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median intake of total dairy was 397 g/day, which mainly comprised low-fat dairy products (median intake of 247 g/day). During a median follow-up time of 17.3 years, 564 strokes (182 fatal) and 567 CHD events (350 fatal) occurred. Total dairy, milk, low-fat dairy, and fermented dairy were not significantly related to incident stroke or fatal stroke (p > 0.2 for upper vs. lower intake categories). High-fat dairy was significantly inversely related to fatal stroke (HR of 0.88 per 100 g/day; 95% CI 0.79, 0.99), but not to incident stroke (HR of 0.96 per 100 g/day; 95% CI 0.90, 1.02). Total dairy or dairy subgroups were not significantly related to incident CHD or fatal CHD (HRs between 0.98 and 1.05 per 100 g/day, all p > 0.35).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this long-term follow-up study of older Dutch subjects, total dairy consumption or the intake of specific dairy products was not related to the occurrence of CVD events. The observed inverse association between high-fat dairy and fatal stroke warrants confirmation in other studies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jaike
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Praagman
authors.forename: Oscar H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: M Arfan
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ikram
authors.forename: Sabita S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Soedamah-Muthu
authors.forename: Mariëlle F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Engberink
authors.forename: Frank J A
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: van Rooij
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Johanna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Geleijnse
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D043302:Cultured Milk Products; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004032:Diet; D018752:Diet, Fat-Restricted; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008892:Milk; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*