title: The relationship between dietary magnesium intake, stroke and its major risk factors, blood pressure and cholesterol, in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dietary magnesium could modify the major stroke risk factors, high blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol, but has been understudied in both sexes in a single population. This study aimed to investigate if dietary magnesium intake was associated with BP, total cholesterol (TC) and incident stroke risk in an adult population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted cross-sectional analyses in a case-cohort study of 4443, men and women aged 40-75, representative of 25,639 participants years of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer)-Norfolk cohort. The cohort included 928 stroke cases (42,556.5 person years). Dietary data from 7 day food diaries were analysed using multivariate regression to assess associations between quintiles or data-derived categories of dietary magnesium intake and BP, TC and stroke risk, adjusted for relevant confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed differences of -7 mmHg systolic BP (P trend ≤ 0.01) and -3.8 mmHg diastolic BP (P trend=0.01) between extreme intakes of magnesium in men, a significant inverse association with TC was observed (P trend=0.02 men and 0.04 women). Compared to the bottom 10%, the top 30% of magnesium intake was associated with a 41% relative reduction in stroke risk (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.38-0.93) in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower dietary magnesium intake was associated with higher BP and stroke risk, which may have implications for primary prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Primary Care, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy K M
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.affiliation: Aberdeen Gerontological and Epidemiological INterdisciplinary Research Group (AGEING), Epidemiology Group, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, School of Medicine & Dentistry, Aberdeen, UK.
authors.forename: Phyo K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Myint
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Marleen A H
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lentjes
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Luben
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Kay-Tee
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Khaw
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Nick J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Wareham
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Primary Care, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Electronic address: a.welch@uea.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ailsa A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Welch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008274:Magnesium / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol; D008274:Magnesium
keywords: Blood pressure; Dietary magnesium; Stroke; Total cholesterol