Kokubo Y, et al. – The correlation between dietary Magnesium intake and the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) was scrutinized in a Japanese population. It was concluded that higher dietary Magnesium intake was related to a reduced risk of CHD in Japanese men.

Methods

• 85,975 Japanese subjects completed questionnaire at baseline (age 45-65 years, without cardiovascular disease or cancer in 1995 and 1998 for Cohorts I and II, respectively).
• Follow-up was performed until the end of 2009 and 2010 in Cohorts I and II, respectively.
• Dietary magnesium intake was calculated from a self-administered 138-item food-frequency questionnaire.

Results

• After 1,305,738 person-years of follow-up, 4,110 strokes and 1,283 cases of CHD were documented.
• The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs, 95% confidence intervals, 95%CIs) of CHD for the fourth and fifth quintiles of dietary magnesium intake were 0.70 (0.50-0.99) and 0.66 (0.44-0.97) in men (P for trend=0.036), respectively, and third quintile of dietary magnesium intake was found to be 0.61 (0.39-0.96) in women (P for trend=0.241), compared with the lowest quintile in men and women.
• No decreased risks were discovered of the incident stroke, in men or women with higher dietary magnesium intakes.