[A prospective study of impact of spicy food intake on risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease in residents aged 30-79 years].

Objective: To explore the association between spicy food intake and the risk for cardio/cerebrovascular diseases. Methods: Data were collected from the China Kadoorie Biobank project conducted in Pengzhou, Sichuan Province. Using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, we analyzed the associations of the frequency of spicy food intake, spicy level, types of spicy food, and the age when regular intake of spicy food began (intake in 1 day/week), with the risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease. Furthermore, the associations with the risks for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular diseases, as well as the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS) were analyzed. Results: A total of 54 859 study participants were included in the study, in whom 49 320 had spicy food intake (89.90%). In these participants, 37 680 (68.69%) had spicy food intake in 6-7 days/week, 5 036 (9.18%) had spicy food intake in 1-5 days/week, and 6 604 (12.03%) had spicy food intake once a week; 5 539 (10.10%) had never/almost never had spicy food intake. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, compared with those who never/almost never had spicy food intake, intake of spicy food was associated with reduced risks for IHD (intake in 6-7 days/week: HR=0.86, 95%CI: 0.78-0.95), cerebrovascular diseases (intake in 6-7 days/week: HR=0.88, 95%CI: 0.81-0.96), and IS (intak in 6-7 days/week: HR=0.85, 95%CI: 0.76-0.95). With the increase of spicy food intake frequency, the risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease decreased (intake in 1-5 days/week: HR=0.91, 95%CI: 0.85-0.98; intake in 6-7 days/week: HR=0.89, 95%CI: 0.84-0.94) (trend test P<0.001). However, no statistical association was found between spicy food intake and the risk for HS. In terms of spicy level, after adjusting for multiple confounding factors, compared with those who never/almost never had spicy food intake, intake of spicy food was associated with reduced risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease (moderate: HR=0.86, 95%CI: 0.82-0.90) and cerebrovascular disease (moderate: HR=0.90, 95%CI: 0.84-0.97). With the increase of spicy level, the risk for IHD decreased (moderate: HR=0.86, 95%CI: 0.79-0.93; strong: HR=0.84, 95%CI: 0.74-0.95) (trend test P<0.001). After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, compared with those who never/almost never had spicy food intake, intake of any type of spicy food was associated with reduced risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease, IHD, and cerebrovascular disease. Regulat intake of spicy food from age 0-10 years was associated with reduced risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease, IHD, and cerebrovascular disease. Regular intake of spicy food from age 11-20 years reduced the risk for cardio/cerebrovascular disease and IHD. There was no significant association between the regular intake of spicy food from age 21-79 years and the risks for cardio/cerebrovascular disease, IHD and cerebrovascular disease. Conclusion: The intake of spicy food could reduced the risk for cardio/cerebrovascular diseases, IHD, cerebrovascular diseases and IS in residents aged 30-79 years in Sichuan.