Dairy Consumption and Risk of Stroke: A Case-control Study

BACKGROUND: It remains controversial if dairy product intake is associated with risk of stroke. Limited information is available from Middle East countries in this regard. This case-control study was conducted to assess the relationship between dairy consumption and risk of stroke in Iranian adults. METHODS: In this study, 195 stroke patients (recognized based on clinical findings and computed tomography scan) hospitalized in neurology ward of Alzahra University Hospital were enrolled. Controls (n = 195) were selected with convenience nonrandom sampling procedure from other wards of this hospital. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess participants’ usual dietary intakes. Data on other variables were collected by the use of questionnaires. RESULTS: Patients with stroke were older (P < 0.001), had lower weight and body mass index (P < 0.05) and were more likely to be male (P < 0.05) and less likely to be obese (P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex and total energy intake, Individuals with the highest consumption of low-fat dairy had a significantly decreased risk of stroke (odds ratio [OR]: 0.58; 95% of confidence interval [CI]: 0.34–0.99), while those with the highest intake of high-fat dairy had a 2-fold increased risk of stroke. The association between high-fat dairy consumption and stroke even persisted after additional adjustments for physical activity, smoking and dietary variables (OR: 2.02; 95% CI: 1.02–4.02); but the association between low-fat dairy intake and stroke disappeared after these adjustments (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.44–1.58). CONCLUSIONS: We found a significant positive association between high-fat dairy consumption and risk of stroke. Further prospective studies are required to confirm this finding.