Processed and Unprocessed Red Meat Consumption and Risk of Heart Failure

Abstract

A round 5.7 million people in the United States have heart failure (HF); the mortality within 5 years of diagnosis is ≈50%, 1 and the nation's cost for medical care, medications, and loss of productivity is estimated to $34 billion each year. 2 Thus, preventing development of this disease and identification of factors that affect the risk of HF are of great relevance from a public health point of view. Editorial see p 549 Clinical Perspective on p 557Among many factors that affect the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) including HF, diet has an important role. [3][4][5] The results of recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses indicate that high consumption of red and processed meat is related to increased risk of coronary heart disease 6 and stroke, 7 as well as increased CVD mortality. 8 Although only 2 prospective studies 3,9 have examined total red meat consumption in relation to HF incidence, showing inconsistent results, there are no data on the consumption of unprocessed and processed red meat analyzed separately in relation to HF risk.Therefore, we conducted a prospective study to investigate the associations of both unprocessed and processed red meat consumption with HF incidence in the large population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men with 12 years of follow-up. Methods Study PopulationThe Cohort of Swedish Men was established in the late autumn of 1997, when all men 45 to 79 years old who lived in central Sweden (Västmanland and Örebro Counties) completed a questionnaire on foods intake and other lifestyle factors. Of the 48 850 men who returned a completed questionnaire, we excluded those with missing or incorrect national identification number, blank questionnaires, or previous diagnosis of cancer (other than nonmelanoma skin cancer) (n=2944). Moreover, men with a history of HF or ischemic heart disease at baseline (n=5841) and those with implausible values for total energy intake (>3 SDs from the mean value for log-transformed energy) or missing data on red meat or processed red meat consumption (n=3030) were excluded. Participants were classified as having diabetes mellitus if they had a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus recorded in the Swedish National Inpatient Register or the Swedish National Diabetes Register before baseline or self-reported diabetes mellitus in the questionnaire. Thus, the final cohort included 37 035 participants. The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board at the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden). Original Article© 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.Circ Heart Fail is available at http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org DOI: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.113.000921Background-Epidemiological studies of red meat consumption in relation to risk of heart failure (HF) are scarce. We examined the associations of unprocessed and processed red meat consumption with HF incidence and mortality in men. Methods and Results-The population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men included 37 035 men, aged 45 to 79 years, with no history of HF, ischemic heart d...

Long-term processed and unprocessed red meat consumption and risk of heart failure: A prospective cohort study of women

“…Our results are in agreement with the previous results from the prospective Cohort of Swedish Men [10]. Men who consumed ≥75 g/day processed red meat compared to those who consumed b 25 g/day had a statistically significant 27% higher risk of HF incidence and 141% higher risk of HF mortality, while there was no association between unprocessed red meat consumption and risk of incidence and death caused by HF.…”

“…Three previous prospective studies [8][9][10] have examined total red meat consumption in relation to HF incidence with partly inconsistent results. To the best of our knowledge, only one study [10] assessed the association with HF incidence separately for unprocessed and processed meat, while none assessed this risk in women or considered long-term red meat consumption.…”

“…Three previous prospective studies [8][9][10] have examined total red meat consumption in relation to HF incidence with partly inconsistent results. To the best of our knowledge, only one study [10] assessed the association with HF incidence separately for unprocessed and processed meat, while none assessed this risk in women or considered long-term red meat consumption. Importantly, as only processed meat, but not unprocessed meat, was associated with increased risk of HF in the study on men [10] -possibly explaining previous inconsistent results for total meat -it is essential to explore this in women, also at high risk of developing HF.…”

Egg consumption and risk of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke: results from 2 prospective cohorts

“…For example, we did not have information on consumption of bacon, specifically, which is a potential confounder of the association between egg consumption and HF risk. However, we adjusted for processed meat consumption (including sausages, hot dogs, salami, ham, processed meat cuts, and liver paté), which is positively associated with HF risk in the Swedish cohorts (14,15), and results did not change. Previous studies of egg consumption in relation to risk of HF did not control for consumption of bacon or other potential dietary confounders (4,5).…”

Research gaps in evaluating the relationship of meat and health

“…One study of Swedish adult men assessed food intake at baseline only, followed the subjects for an average of 11.8 years, and found 2891 cases of heart failure, 266 of which were fatal (Kaluza, Akesson, & Wolk, 2014). Men who reported eating ≥75 g/d of processed meat had a 1.28 RR (95% CI: 1.10-1.48) of incident heart failure compared to men who ate b 25 g/d and a 2.43 RR (95% CI; 1.52-3.88) of mortality due to heart failure.…”