Elizabeth Mostofsky1,2, Martin Berg Johansen3,4, Anne Tjønneland5, Harpreet S Chahal6, Murray A Mittleman1,2, Kim Overvad3,7. 1. Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 3. Department of Cardiology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. 4. Unit of Clinical Biostatistics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. 5. Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Copenhagen, Denmark. 6. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. 7. Section for Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between chocolate intake and incident clinically apparent atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF). METHODS: The Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study is a large population-based prospective cohort study. The present study is based on 55 502 participants (26 400 men and 29 102 women) aged 50-64 years who had provided information on chocolate intake at baseline. Incident cases of AF were ascertained by linkage with nationwide registries. RESULTS: During a median of 13.5 years there were 3346 cases of AF. Compared with chocolate intake less than once per month, the rate of AF was lower for people consuming 1-3 servings/month (hazard ratio (HR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82 to 0.98), 1 serving/week (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92), 2-6 servings/week (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.91) and ≥1 servings/day (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.09; p-linear trend <0.0001), with similar results for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Accumulating evidence indicates that moderate chocolate intake may be inversely associated with AF risk, although residual confounding cannot be ruled out. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between chocolate intake and incident clinically apparent atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF). METHODS: The Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study is a large population-based prospective cohort study. The present study is based on 55 502 participants (26 400 men and 29 102 women) aged 50-64 years who had provided information on chocolate intake at baseline. Incident cases of AF were ascertained by linkage with nationwide registries. RESULTS: During a median of 13.5 years there were 3346 cases of AF. Compared with chocolate intake less than once per month, the rate of AF was lower for people consuming 1-3 servings/month (hazard ratio (HR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82 to 0.98), 1 serving/week (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92), 2-6 servings/week (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.91) and ≥1 servings/day (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.09; p-linear trend <0.0001), with similar results for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Accumulating evidence indicates that moderate chocolate intake may be inversely associated with AF risk, although residual confounding cannot be ruled out. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
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