Tea Consumption and All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the UK Biobank : A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Tea is frequently consumed worldwide, but the association of tea drinking with mortality risk remains inconclusive in populations where black tea is the main type consumed. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the associations of tea consumption with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and potential effect modification by genetic variation in caffeine metabolism. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: The UK Biobank. PARTICIPANTS: 498 043 men and women aged 40 to 69 years who completed the baseline touchscreen questionnaire from 2006 to 2010. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported tea intake and mortality from all causes and leading causes of death, including cancer, all cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischemic heart disease, stroke, and respiratory disease. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 11.2 years, higher tea intake was modestly associated with lower all-cause mortality risk among those who drank 2 or more cups per day. Relative to no tea drinking, the hazard ratios (95% CIs) for participants drinking 1 or fewer, 2 to 3, 4 to 5, 6 to 7, 8 to 9, and 10 or more cups per day were 0.95 (95% CI, 0.91 to 1.00), 0.87 (CI, 0.84 to 0.91), 0.88 (CI, 0.84 to 0.91), 0.88 (CI, 0.84 to 0.92), 0.91 (CI, 0.86 to 0.97), and 0.89 (CI, 0.84 to 0.95), respectively. Inverse associations were seen for mortality from all CVD, ischemic heart disease, and stroke. Findings were similar regardless of whether participants also drank coffee or not or of genetic score for caffeine metabolism. LIMITATION: Potentially important aspects of tea intake (for example, portion size and tea strength) were not assessed. CONCLUSION: Higher tea intake was associated with lower mortality risk among those drinking 2 or more cups per day, regardless of genetic variation in caffeine metabolism. These findings suggest that tea, even at higher levels of intake, can be part of a healthy diet. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Cancer Institute Intramural Research Program.

Outdoor light at night and risk of liver cancer in the NIH-AARP diet and health study.

PURPOSE: Accumulating evidence suggests that light at night (LAN) disrupts circadian rhythms and may increase risk of liver cancer. However, there is no population-based study that examined LAN and liver cancer risk. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between outdoor LAN and liver cancer risk in a prospective cohort. METHODS: Residential outdoor LAN level was measured from satellite imagery in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, a prospective cohort of 451,945 men and women, 50-71 years old. Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models that adjusted for known risk factors for liver cancer and neighborhood characteristics. RESULTS: During an average 12.2 years of follow-up, 897 liver cancers, 603 of which were hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), were diagnosed. Residential outdoor LAN was not associated with risk of liver cancer (RRQ5 vs Q1 = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.77-1.20, p trend = 0.771) or HCC (RRQ5 vs Q1 = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.62-1.07, p trend = 0.425). CONCLUSION: No association between outdoor LAN and risk of liver cancer or HCC may in part be due to limitations in LAN assessment. More studies on the relationship between light intensity, duration, timing, and wavelength and liver cancer are warranted.

The association between inflammatory bowel disease and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the UK Biobank.

PURPOSE: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a rising global prevalence. However, the understanding of its impact on mortality remains inconsistent so we explored the association between IBD and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. METHODS: This study included 502,369 participants from the UK Biobank, a large, population-based, prospective cohort study with mortality data through 2022. IBD was defined by baseline self-report or from primary care or hospital admission data. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality in multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: A total of 5799 (1.2%) participants had a history of IBD at baseline. After a median follow-up of 13.7 years, 44,499 deaths occurred. Having IBD was associated with an increased risk of death from all causes (HR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.07-1.24) and cancer (HR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.05-1.30), particularly colorectal cancer (CRC) (HR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.17-2.09). We observed elevated breast cancer mortality rates for individuals with Crohn's disease, and increased CRC mortality rates for individuals with ulcerative colitis. In stratified analyses of IBD and all-cause mortality, mortality risk differed by individuals' duration of IBD, age at IBD diagnosis, body mass index (BMI) (PHeterogeneity = 0.03) and smoking status (PHeterogeneity = 0.01). Positive associations between IBD and all-cause mortality were detected in individuals diagnosed with IBD for 10 years or longer, those diagnosed before the age of 50, all BMI subgroups except obese individuals, and in never or current, but not former smokers. CONCLUSIONS: We found that having IBD was associated with increased risks of mortality from all causes, all cancers, and CRC. This underscores the importance of enhanced patient management strategies and targeted prevention efforts in individuals with IBD.

Association of Adherence to Healthy Lifestyle Recommendations With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Former Smokers.

Importance: The benefits of smoking cessation are well known, but former smokers have a higher health risk than never smokers. The impact of former smokers' engaging in other aspects of a healthy lifestyle is unclear. Objective: To assess the association between adherence to evidence-based lifestyle recommendations and mortality among former smokers. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study included 159 937 participants in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study of older US adults who completed the baseline and risk factor questionnaires and self-identified as former smokers. Baseline questionnaires were mailed from 1995 to 1996. Data analysis was performed from November 2020 to November 2021. Exposures: Adherence to evidence-based lifestyle recommendations was scored for body weight (scores, 0-2), diet (scores, 0-3), physical activity (scores, 0-2), and alcohol intake (scores, 0-1) recommendations, with higher scores indicating better adherence. Individual lifestyle adherence scores were summed to make a total adherence score (scores, 0-8). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality through December 31, 2019, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 18.9 (6.3) years. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were computed using a multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: Among 159 937 former smokers (mean [SD] age, 62.6 [5.2] years; 106 912 [66.9%] male; 149 742 [93.6%] White), 86 127 deaths occurred. A higher total adherence score was associated with lower all-cause mortality (HR per unit increase, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.94-0.95). Compared with the lowest total adherence score category (scores, 0-2), the HRs for all-cause mortality were 0.88 (95% CI, 0.86-0.90) for scores of 3 to 4, 0.80 (95% CI, 0.79-0.82) for scores of 5 to 6, and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.71-0.75) for scores of 7 to 8. Associations were observed regardless of health status, comorbid conditions, the number of cigarettes participants used to smoke per day, years since cessation, and age at smoking initiation. When examined individually, the HRs for highest vs lowest adherence score were 0.86 (95% CI, 0.84-0.88) for body weight, 0.91 (95% CI, 0.90-0.93) for diet, 0.83 (95% CI, 0.81-0.85) for physical activity, and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.94-0.97) for alcohol intake recommendations. Participants with a higher total adherence score also had a lower risk of mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. Conclusions and Relevance: In a large US cohort of former smokers, better adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations was associated with lower mortality risk. These results provide evidence that former smokers may benefit from adhering to lifestyle recommendations, as do other groups.

Sweetened beverage consumption and risk of liver cancer by diabetes status: A pooled analysis.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of sweetened beverages has been linked to several risk factors for liver cancer including diabetes. Studies investigating the role of sweetened beverage consumption and liver cancer, however, are limited. As persons with diabetes are advised against consumption of sugar, the objective of this study was to examine the role of sweetened beverage consumption and liver cancer risk by diabetes status. METHODS: Data from two U.S. cohorts: the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial were harmonized and pooled. Hazard ratios and 95%CI were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models stratified by median follow-up time. RESULTS: Among persons without diabetes, there were no statistical evidence of associations between liver cancer and consumption of sweetened beverages overall, sugar sweetened beverages (SSB), or artificially sweetened beverages (ASB). Sugar sweetened (SS) soda consumption, however, was associated with liver cancer in the first follow-up interval (HR:1.18. 95%CI: 1.03, 1.35). In contrast, among persons with diabetes, there were significant associations between liver cancer and consumption of sweetened beverages overall (HR: 1.12, 95%CI 1.01, 1.24), ASBs (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25), soda overall (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.26) and artificially sweetened (AS) soda (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.27) in the first follow-up interval. CONCLUSIONS: Increased soda consumption may be associated with risk of liver cancer. The results suggest that decreasing consumption of SS soda by persons without diabetes, and AS soda by persons with diabetes, could be associated with reduced liver cancer risk.