| Nutritional
factors in the aetiology of MS
A
case-control study in Montreal, Canada Parviz Ghadiriana,
Meera Jainb, Slobodan Ducicc, Bryna Shatensteind and Richard
MorisseteaEpidemiology
Research Unit, Research Centre CHTUM, Pavillon Hôtel-Dieu
3850 rue St. Urbain, Montréal. QC H2W 1T8, Canada
bDepartment
of public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. University
of Toronto Thronto, Ontario, Canada
cDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty
of Medicine. University of Montreal Montreal, Quebec,
Canada
dDirection de la Santé Publique, Santé au
travail et envlronnement (SATE), Hôpttal Malsonneuve-RosernonU
Department of Nunitlon, Faculty of Medicine. University
of Montreal Montreal, Quebec Canada
eDepartment of Microbiology. CHUM, Pavilion Hôtel-Dleu;
Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Faculty of
Medicine,
University of Montreal Montreal. Quebec Canada
BACKGROUND:
It has been suggested that nutrition and food patterns,
particularly high consumption of animal fat and low intake
of fish products, may play a role in the aetiology of
multiple sclerosis (MS).
METHODS:
The relation between nutritional factors and MS was studied
among 197 incident cases and 202 frequency matched controls
in metropolitan Montreal during 1992–1995. Dietary
information was collected by employing a 164-item food
frequency questionnaire in a face-to-face interview.
RESULTS: An inverse association was
observed between high body mass index (BMI) and the risk
of MS, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.76 (95% confidence
interval [CI]: 0.61–0.95), per 5-unit increase in
BMI, both sexes combined. In addition, taller women showed
a greater risk for MS; the OR per 10 cm increase in height
was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.06–2.35). In continuous variable
analyses, using the difference between the lowest and
highest quartile of intake as a unit, a positive association
was observed with energy and animal fat intake. The OR
per 897 kcal increase was 2.03 (95% CI: 1.13–3.67)
and 1.99 (95% CI: 1.12–3.54) per 33 g of animal
fat intake above the baseline. A significant protective
effect was observed with other nutrients, including vegetable
protein, dietary fibre, cereal fibre, vitamin C, thiamin,
riboflavin, calcium, and potassium. Similar trends were
seen for males and females when analysed separately. With
respect to specific foods (as opposed to nutrients), a
higher intake of fruit juices was inversely associated
with risk (OR=0.82; 95% CI: 0.74–0.92). A protective
effect was also observed with cereal/breads intake for
all cases combined (OR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.40–0.97)
and for fish among women only; pork/hot dogs (OR=1.24;
95% CI: 1.02–1.51) and sweets/candy (OR=1.29; 95%
CI: 1.07–1.55) were positively associated with risk.
CONCLUSION:
The study generally supports a protective role for components
commonly found in plants fruit/vegetables and grains)
and an increased risk with high energy and animal food
intake.
Keywords:
Multiple sclerosis, case-control, nutrition, epidemiology
Accepted
24 February 1998
|
Clinical
Guide to the use of Vitamin C
The
Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D.,
abbreviated, sumarized and annotated by
Lendon H. Smith, M.D.
2233 SW Market Street, Portland, Oregon 97201
After
Frederick Klenner died in 1984, his friend (and mine),
Arthur Rybeck, a nutritionally-oriented dentist practicing
in Wheeling, West Virginia, asked if I would be interested
in going over the 27 papers Klenner had written from the
early 1940’s to the early 1970’s. The whole
idea would be to let the world know how thoughtful and
careful a researcher he was, and to encourage others to
continue his work. If a compendium of Vitamin C (and other
nutritional) therapy could be compiled from the published
work of Dr. Klenner, maybe we could get more traditional
medicine-oriented doctors to use his methods for the relief
of sickness and suffering.
...more |