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Dietary iron intake and risk of non-fatal acute myocardial infarction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Alessandra Tavani ,
Silvano Gallus ,
Cristina Bosetti ,
Maria Parpinel ,
Eva Negri  and
Carlo La Vecchia
Alessandra Tavani*
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy
Silvano Gallus
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy
Cristina Bosetti
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy
Maria Parpinel
Affiliation:
Istituto di Igiene ed Epidemiologia, Università di Udine, Udine, Italy
Eva Negri
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy
Carlo La Vecchia
Affiliation:
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157 Milan, Italy Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
*
*Corresponding author: Email tavani@marionegri.it
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Abstract

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Objective

The relation between several measures of body iron and atherosclerotic disease, particularly acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is debated. This is of specific interest since iron is frequently included in supplementation and fortification of foods. We assessed the relation between dietary iron intake and the risk of non-fatal AMI.

Design

Case–control study. The information was collected by interviewers using a food-frequency questionnaire tested for validity and reproducibility. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained by multiple unconditional logistic regression models, including terms for energy and alcohol intakea, as well as for sociodemographic factors, tobacco and other major recognised risk factors for AMI.

Setting

Milan, Italy, between 1995 and 1999.

Subjects

Cases were 507 patients, below age 79 years, with a first episode of non-fatal AMI, and controls were 478 patients admitted to hospital for a wide spectrum of acute conditions unrelated to known or potential AMI risk factors.

Results

Compared with patients in the lowest tertile of total iron intake, the OR was 0.48 (95% CI 0.29–0.82) for those in the highest tertile. The corresponding value for haem iron was 0.71 (95% CI 0.48–1.06), for non-haem, non-alcohol iron was 0.80 (95% CI 0.51–1.24) and for iron derived from alcoholic beverages was 0.60 (95% CI 0.40–0.90). Sex-specific OR for total iron intake were not heterogeneous.

Conclusions

In this Italian population dietary iron intake was inversely related to AMI risk. This inverse association may depend on other nutrients present in the major sources of iron in the Italian diet.

Keywords

Acute myocardial infarctionCase–control studiesDietary ironRisk factors
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , June 2006 , pp. 480 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

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