Secondhand smoke exposure can increase the risk of first ischemic stroke: A 10.7-year prospective cohort study in China.

INTRODUCTION: Passive smoking is considered a major public health issue in China. Prospective evidence regarding the link between secondhand smoke (SHS) and ischemic stroke in China is scarce. METHODS: The China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study in Liuzhou City recruited 50,174 participants during 2004-2008. Of these 30,456 never-smokers were included in our study. The median follow-up period was 10.7 years. The incidence of ischemic stroke was obtained through the China Disease Surveillance Points (DSP) system and the Health Insurance (HI) database. Cox proportional risk models were used to evaluate the association between SHS exposure and ischemic stroke. RESULTS: During 320,678 person-years of follow-up, there were 2059 patients with ischemic stroke observed and the incidence of ischemic stroke was 6.42 per thousand person-years. Participants exposed to SHS daily faced a 21 % higher risk of ischemic stroke (HR = 1.21, 95 %CI: 1.09-1.34) compared to those exposed to SHS less than once a week. Subgroup analyses revealed that daily SHS exposure was linked to heightened risk of ischemic stroke among women, non-employed, and non-weekly tea drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: Daily SHS exposure was associated with higher risks of ischemic stroke. Proactive tobacco control strategies are necessary to decrease the risk of ischemic stroke in never smokers.

Spicy food consumption reduces the risk of ischaemic stroke: a prospective study.

Previous studies revealed that consuming spicy food reduced mortality from CVD and lowered stroke risk. However, no studies reported the relationship between spicy food consumption, stroke types and dose­response. This study aimed to further explore the association between the frequency of spicy food intake and the risk of stroke in a large prospective cohort study. In this study, 50 174 participants aged 30­79 years were recruited. Spicy food consumption data were collected via a baseline survey questionnaire. Outcomes were incidence of any stroke, ischaemic stroke (IS) and haemorrhagic stroke (HS). Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models estimated the association between the consumption of spicy food and incident stroke. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to examine the dose­response relationship. During the median 10·7-year follow-up, 3967 strokes were recorded, including 3494 IS and 516 HS. Compared with those who never/rarely consumed spicy food, those who consumed spicy food monthly, 1­2 d/week and 3­5 d/week had hazard ratio (HR) of 0·914 (95 % CI 0·841, 0·995), 0·869 (95 % CI 0·758, 0·995) and 0·826 (95 % CI 0·714, 0·956) for overall stroke, respectively. For IS, the corresponding HR) were 0·909 (95 % CI 0·832, 0·994), 0·831 (95 % CI 0·718, 0·962) and 0·813 (95 % CI 0·696, 0·951), respectively. This protective effect showed a U-shaped dose­response relationship. For obese participants, consuming spicy food ≥ 3 d/week was negatively associated with the risk of IS. We found the consumption of spicy food was negatively associated with the risk of IS and had a U-shaped dose­response relationship with risk of IS. Individuals who consumed spicy food 3­5 d/week had a significantly lowest risk of IS.

Healthy sleep pattern reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease: A 10-year prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the association between quantified sleep factors and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) through a 10-year prospective cohort study. METHODS: A total of 45,919 individuals were recruited in this population-based prospective study. The healthy sleep score was constructed by four sleep measures (sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, snoring and daytime sleepiness), which were collected by questionnaire. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by the multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional hazards model. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to examine the dose‒response relationships between healthy sleep scores and outcomes. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 10.73 years (interquartile range: 10.08-11.72 years), 10,523 cases of total CVD incidence, 3766 cases of CHD, and 3967 cases of stroke incidence were documented. Our results found that participants who maintained four healthy sleep measures (including no insomnia, snoring, or frequent daytime sleepiness and sleeping 7-8 h/d) had a 12% (HR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.84-0.93) and 16% (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.78-0.92) lower risk of developing CVD and CHD, respectively, but not stroke. There was a dose‒response relationship between sleep scores and the risk of cardiovascular events. With an increasing healthy sleep score, the risk of cardiovascular events decreases. Compared to those with a sleep score of 0-1, participants with a score of 4 had 27% (HR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.67-0.79), 25% (HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.65-0.87), and 24% (HR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.66-0.86) reduced risks of CVD, CHD, and stroke, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, a healthy sleep pattern effectively reduced the risk of CVD, CHD, and stroke.

Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil and Brown Rice and Human Health Risk Assessment near Three Mining Areas in Central China.

BACKGROUND: Metal mining and waste discharge lead to regional heavy metal contamination and attract major concern because of the potential risk to local residents. METHODS: This research was conducted to determine lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), and antimony (Sb) concentrations in soil and brown rice samples from three heavy metal mining areas in Hunan Province, central China, and to assess the potential health risks to local inhabitants. RESULTS: Local soil contamination was observed, with mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, Sb, and As of 0.472, 193.133, 36.793, and 89.029 mg/kg, respectively. Mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, Sb, Mn, and As in brown rice were 0.103, 0.131, 5.175, 6.007, and 0.524 mg/kg, respectively. Daily intakes of Cd, As, Sb, Pb, and Mn through brown rice consumption were estimated to be 0.011, 0.0002, 0.004, 0.0001, and 0.0003 mg/(kg/day), respectively. The combined hazard index for the five heavy metals was 22.5917, and the total cancer risk was 0.1773. Cd contributed most significantly to cancer risk, accounting for approximately 99.77% of this risk. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that potential noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks exist for local inhabitants and that regular monitoring of pollution to protect human health is urgently required.