Habitual caffeinated beverage consumption and headaches among adults with episodic migraine: A prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between habitual caffeinated beverage consumption and headache frequency, duration, and intensity in a prospective cohort of adults with episodic migraine. BACKGROUND: Caffeine is a commonly ascribed headache trigger in adults with migraine and clinicians may counsel patients to avoid caffeinated beverages; however, few studies have examined this association. METHODS: From March 2016 to August 2017, 101 adults with physician-confirmed episodic migraine completed baseline questionnaires, including information about caffeinated beverage consumption. For 6 weeks, they reported headache onset, duration, and pain intensity (scale 0-100) on twice-daily electronic diaries. Ninety-seven participants completed data collection. We examined associations between self-reported habitual caffeinated beverage consumption at baseline and headache outcomes prospectively captured over the following 6 weeks, adjusting for age, sex, and oral contraceptive use. RESULTS: The adjusted mean headache days per month was similar among the 20 participants reporting no habitual intake (7.1 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.1-9.2), the 65 participants reporting 1-2 servings/day (7.4 days, 95% CI 6.1-8.7), and the 12 participants reporting 3-4 servings/day (5.9 days, 95% CI 3.3-8.4). Similarly, mean headache duration (no servings/day: 8.6 h, 95% CI 3.8-13.3; 1-2 servings/day: 8.5 h, 95% CI 5.5-11.5; 3-4 servings/day: 8.8 h, 95% CI 2.3-14.9) and intensity (no servings/day: 43.8, 95% CI 37.0-50.5; 1-2 servings/day: 43.1, 95% CI 38.9-47.4; 3-4 servings/day: 46.5, 95% CI 37.8-55.3) did not differ across levels of caffeinated beverage intake, though estimates were imprecise. CONCLUSIONS: We found no association between habitual caffeinated beverage intake and headache frequency, duration, or intensity. These data do not support a recommendation that patients with episodic migraine should avoid consuming caffeine. Further research is needed to understand whether deviating from usual caffeine intake may trigger migraine attacks.

Beer taxes associate with lower alcohol and cigarette use; cigarette taxes associate with lower cigarette but higher alcohol use.

Background: There is a yet unmet opportunity to utilize data on taxes and individual behaviors to yield insight for analyzing studies involving alcohol and cigarette use.Objectives: To inform the direction and strength of their mutual associations by leveraging the fact that taxation can affect individual consumption, but individual consumption cannot affect taxation.Methods: We linked state-level data on cigarette and beer taxes in 2009-2020 with individual-level data on self-reported current cigarette and alcohol use from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is representative of the population of each state in the United States. We constructed linear and logistic models to examine associations between a $1 increase in cigarette taxes per pack and a $1 increase in beer taxes per gallon and self-reported cigarette use and alcohol consumption (assessed as any current intake, average drinks/day, heavy drinking, and binge drinking), adjusting for survey year and individual characteristics.Results: Among 2,968,839,352 respondents (49% male), a $1 increase in beer taxes was associated with .003 (95% confidence interval [CI] -.013, .008) fewer drinks/day and lower odds of any drinking (odds ratio [OR] = .81 95%CI .80, .83), heavy drinking (OR = .96 95%CI .93, .99), binge drinking (OR = .82 95%CI .80, .83), and smoking (OR = .98 95%CI .96, 1.00). In contrast, a $1 increase in cigarette taxes was associated with lower odds of smoking (OR = .94 95%CI .94, .95) but .007 (95%CI .005, .010) more drinks/day, and higher odds of any drinking (OR = 1.10 95%CI 1.10, 1.11), heavy drinking (OR = 1.02 95%CI 1.01, 1.02), and binge drinking (OR = .82 95%CI .80, .83).Conclusion: Higher beer taxes were associated with lower odds of drinking and smoking, but higher cigarette taxes were associated with lower odds of smoking and higher alcohol consumption. These results suggest that alcohol intake may be a determinant of cigarette use rather than cigarette use as a determinant of alcohol intake.

Sociopolitical stress and acute cardiovascular disease hospitalizations around the 2016 presidential election.

Previous research suggests that stressors may trigger the onset of acute cardiovascular disease (CVD) events within hours to days, but there has been limited research around sociopolitical events such as presidential elections. Among adults ≥18 y of age in Kaiser Permanente Southern California, hospitalization rates for acute CVD were compared in the time period immediately prior to and following the 2016 presidential election date. Hospitalization for CVD was defined as an inpatient or emergency department discharge diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or stroke using International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision codes. Rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated comparing CVD rates in the 2 d following the 2016 election to rates in the same 2 d of the prior week. In a secondary analysis, AMI and stroke were analyzed separately. The rate of CVD events in the 2 d after the 2016 presidential election (573.14 per 100,000 person-years [PY]) compared to the rate in the window prior to the 2016 election (353.75 per 100,000 PY) was 1.62 times higher (95% CI 1.17, 2.25). Results were similar across sex, age, and race/ethnicity groups. The RRs were similar for AMI (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.00, 2.76) and stroke (RR 1.59, 95% CI 1.03, 2.44) separately. Transiently heightened cardiovascular risk around the 2016 election may be attributable to sociopolitical stress. Further research is needed to understand the intersection between major sociopolitical events, perceived stress, and acute CVD events.

Post-transplant mortality and graft failure after induction immunosuppression among Black heart transplant recipients in the United States.

Black heart transplant recipients are more likely to receive induction immunosuppression compared to other races because of higher rates of acute rejection, graft failure, and mortality. However, it is not known whether contemporary induction immunosuppression improves their post-transplant outcomes. To evaluate whether Black patients who were prescribed induction immunosuppression therapy have lower all-cause mortality or graft-failure rates compared to those who were not, we studied Black U.S. adult heart transplant recipients in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database (2008-2018). We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to compare the hazards of all-cause mortality or graft failure as a composite, for patients who were prescribed induction immunosuppression and those who were not. Among 5160 recipients, 2787 (54.0%) were prescribed induction immunosuppression and 2373 (46.0%) were not. There was no evidence of survival differences according to induction immunosuppression for the composite of all-cause mortality or graft failure (aHR = 1.13, 95% CI 0.96-1.32), mortality (aHR = 1.14, 95% CI 0.97-1.34), graft failure (aHR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.82-1.34) and acute rejection (aHR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.89-1.12). Given the side effects of treatment, future guidelines should reconsider the recommendation for induction immunosuppression among Black patients.

Baseline sleep quality, stress, and depressive symptoms, and subsequent headache occurrence in a six-week prospective cohort study of patients with episodic migraine.

OBJECTIVES/BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of sleep disturbance, stress, and depressive symptoms among patients with episodic migraine, there has been limited prospective research examining how these comorbid symptoms relate to future headache risk. METHODS: We conducted an a priori secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study of 98 adults with episodic migraine recruited through Harvard-affiliated medical centers and local college student clinics in Boston, MA. At baseline, participants completed validated questionnaires on sleep quality, stress, and depressive symptoms. Over the next 6 weeks, they recorded headaches on twice-daily diaries. We conducted time-to-event analyses to evaluate whether these baseline symptoms were associated with headache recurrence. RESULTS: At baseline, 45/98 (46%) participants had poor sleep quality, 51/98 (52%) reported moderate/high stress levels, and 18/98 (18%) had high depressive symptom scores. Over 4,406 person-days, we observed 823 discrete headaches. In multivariable models, the hazard ratios for headache recurrence were: 1.22 (95% CI 1.02, 1.46) for people with baseline poor sleep, 1.12 (95% CI 0.93, 1.35) for those with baseline moderate/high stress compared to lower levels, and 1.31 (95% CI 1.05, 1.65) for the combination of poor sleep and moderate/high stress compared to the combination of good sleep and low stress. There was no association between depression scores and headache risk. CONCLUSION: Among patients with episodic migraine, poor sleep was associated with a higher rate of headache recurrence over the next 6 weeks, especially among those with coexisting moderate/high stress.

Prospective cohort study of routine exercise and headache outcomes among adults with episodic migraine.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of routine exercise with headache frequency, intensity, and duration among adults with episodic migraine (EM). BACKGROUND: A comprehensive management plan for EM must aim at reducing disability and cost of care; to do so requires optimizing acute and preventive medications, and behavior changes. Prophylactic medication use is associated with adverse events and contraindications with comorbidities. Aerobic exercise is reported to decrease migraine frequency. However, no study has evaluated a potential synergistic relation between regular exercise and preventive medication use among patients with EM. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study of adults with EMs. In that study, adults with EM (using International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 criteria confirmed by study physicians) were recruited from three academic medical centers in Boston, MA. At baseline, participants provided information on exercise, clinical and demographic characteristics, and lifestyle behaviors. We prospectively collected daily information on headaches and health behavior over at least 6 weeks using electronic questionnaires from 94 participants. We assessed the association between baseline self-reported moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times per week, at baseline, and prospectively recorded headache frequency, intensity, and duration. We further assessed whether these associations differed by the prevalent use of prophylactic migraine medication. RESULTS: Data from 94 of 98 eligible participants were used in the analysis as 4 participants had missing data on routine exercise frequency or intensity at baseline. On average, patients who reported moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times per week at enrollment had 1.5 fewer headache days per month (-1.5 headache days/month; 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.1 to 0.1) compared to less exercise; this was not statistically significant (p = 0.066). The association between exercise and headache days per month varied by baseline use of migraine prophylaxis (p-value of interaction = 0.009). Among those who reported regular use of migraine prophylaxis, a report of moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times per week was associated with 5.1 fewer headache days (-5.1: 95% CI -8.2 to -2.0; p = 0.001) compared to those who reported lower levels of exercise. However, among those not using migraine prophylaxis, we observed only 0.4 fewer headache days per month (-0.4: 95% CI -2.2 to 1.3; p = 0.636) associated with moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times/week, a result that was not statistically significant. There was no association of self-reported moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times a week with headache intensity or duration. CONCLUSION: In patients with EM, those who reported moderate-vigorous exercise at least three times per week had fewer headache days per month, though not statistically significant. This association was significantly stronger in those who used prophylactic medication for migraines. Exercise appeared not to be associated with the severity or duration of headaches. Routine moderate-vigorous exercise may be an important adjunctive strategy for improving headache burden in patients eligible for migraine prophylaxis.

Physical Exertion Immediately Before Early Preterm Delivery: A Case-Crossover Study.

BACKGROUND: Occupational exertion is associated with a higher risk of preterm delivery, although studies of leisure time activities generally document reduced risks. Less is known about the risk of preterm delivery immediately following episodes of moderate or heavy physical exertion. METHODS: We conducted a case-crossover study of 722 women interviewed during their hospital stay for early preterm delivery, defined by a gestational age before 34 weeks, and after 20 weeks. Interviews occurred between March 2013 and December 2015 in seven hospitals in Lima, Peru. RESULTS: The incidence rate ratio (RR) of early preterm delivery was 5.82-fold higher (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.29, 7.36) in the hour following moderate or heavy physical exertion compared with other times and returned to baseline in the hours thereafter. The RR of early preterm delivery within an hour of physical exertion was lower for exertion at moderate intensity (RR = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.50, 3.96) than at heavy intensity (RR = 23.62; 95% CI = 15.54, 35.91; P-homogeneity < 0.001). The RR of early preterm delivery was lower in the hour following moderate physical exertion among women who habitually engaged in physical exertion >3 times per week in the year before pregnancy (RR = 1.56; 95% CI = 0.81, 3.00) compared with more sedentary women (RR = 6.91; 95% CI = 3.20, 14.92; P-homogeneity = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a heightened risk of early preterm delivery in the hour following moderate or heavy physical exertion.

Relation of outbursts of anger and the acute risk of placental abruption: A case-crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Roughly, a fourth of all placental abruption cases have an acute aetiologic underpinning, but the causes of acute abruption are poorly understood. Studies indicate that symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy may be associated with a higher risk of abruption. OBJECTIVE: We examined the rate of abruption in the 2 hours immediately following outbursts of anger. METHODS: In a multicentre case-crossover study, we interviewed 663 women diagnosed with placental abruption admitted to one of the seven Peruvian hospitals between January 2013 and August 2015. We asked women about outbursts of anger before symptom onset and compared this with their usual frequency of anger during the week before abruption. RESULTS: The rate of abruption was 2.83-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.85, 4.33) higher in the 2 hours following an outburst of anger compared with other times. The rate ratio (RR) was lower for women who completed technical school or university (RR 1.38, 95% CI 0.52, 3.69) compared to women with secondary school education or less (RR 3.73, 95% CI 2.32, 5.99, P-homogeneity = .07). There was no evidence that the association between anger episodes and abruption varied by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (ie preeclampsia/ eclampsia) or antepartum depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: There was a higher rate of abruption in the 2 hours following outbursts of anger compared with other times, providing potential clues to the aetiologic mechanisms of abruption of acute onset.

Ambient Pollutants and Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Greater Boston.

Background and Purpose- Associations between exposures to ambient air pollution and spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have been inconsistent, and data on stroke subtypes are currently limited. Methods- We obtained information on all cases of deep or lobar hematomas from ICH patients who were admitted to the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, between 2006 and 2011. We linked the date of admission with 1- to 7-day moving averages of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone from area monitors. We conducted time-stratified bidirectional case-crossover analyses to assess associations between pollutants and stroke. We also investigated whether associations differed by hemorrhage location and type. Results- There were 577 cases of ICH (295 deep, 282 lobar). Overall, there was no evidence of elevated ICH risk after increases in PM2.5, black carbon, or nitrogen dioxide in the whole population. However, there was suggestion of heightened risk with higher levels of ozone for averages longer than 1 day although CIs were wide. In models stratified by ICH location, associations with ozone remained positive for patients with lobar (3-day moving average odds ratio, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.18-2.22) but not deep ICH (odds ratio, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.65-1.20). Larger estimates were observed among participants with a probable diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (odds ratio, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.25-3.96). Conclusions- Exposure to ozone may be associated with incidence of lobar ICH, especially among those who have confirmed or probable cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Physical Exertion Immediately Prior to Placental Abruption: A Case-Crossover Study.

While there is consistent evidence that episodes of physical exertion are associated with an immediately higher risk of acute ischemic vascular events, the risk of placental abruption immediately following episodes of physical exertion has not been studied. In a multicenter case-crossover study, we interviewed 663 women with placental abruption at 7 Peruvian hospitals between January 2013 and August 2015. We asked women about physical exertion in the hour before symptom onset and compared this with their frequency of physical exertion over the prior week. Compared with times with light or no exertion, the risk of placental abruption was 7.8 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.5, 11.0) times greater in the hour following moderate or heavy physical exertion. The instantaneous incidence rate ratio of placental abruption within an hour of moderate or heavy physical exertion was lower for women who habitually engaged in moderate or heavy physical activity more than 3 times per week in the year before pregnancy (rate ratio (RR) = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.6, 5.9) compared with more sedentary women (RR = 17.3, 95% CI: 11.3, 26.7; P for homogeneity < 0.001), and the rate ratio was higher among women with preeclampsia/eclampsia (RR = 13.6, 95% CI: 7.0, 26.2) than among women without (RR = 6.7, 95% CI: 4.4, 10.0; P for homogeneity = 0.07).

Analysis of Observational Self-matched Data to Examine Acute Triggers of Outcome Events with Abrupt Onset.

Several self-matched approaches have been proposed, including case-crossover, case-time control, fixed-effects case-time control, and self-controlled case series. Rather than comparing treatment effects between different individuals, studies use these approaches to evaluate the acute effects of transient exposures, often called "triggers," by comparing outcome risk among the same individual at different times. This eliminates confounding by between-person characteristics that remain stable over time, allowing for valid analyses even in situations where information on some health behaviors is not available, such as long-term smoking history. However, to attain valid results, differences in the probability of exposure and outcome that change over time must be addressed in the design and analysis of the study. In this article, we describe the setting, assumptions and analytic options for conducting studies using self-matched data. Approaches that involve matching or a group of noncases to address time-varying confounding may have less statistical flexibility but they are powerful tools that overcome the need to assume a particular form of any time trends in potential confounders. If data are available for all of the person-time under study, there is a gain in statistical efficiency and the ability to address time-varying confounding using flexible regression models, under the strong assumption of no mis-specification of the model.

Alcohol and Immediate Risk of Cardiovascular Events: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although considerable research describes the cardiovascular effects of habitual moderate and heavy alcohol consumption, the immediate risks following alcohol intake have not been well characterized. Based on its physiological effects, alcohol may have markedly different effects on immediate and long-term risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched CINAHL, Embase, and PubMed from inception to March 12, 2015, supplemented with manual screening for observational studies assessing the association between alcohol intake and cardiovascular events in the following hours and days. We calculated pooled relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for the association between alcohol intake and myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke using DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models to model any alcohol intake or dose-response relationships of alcohol intake and cardiovascular events. Among 1056 citations and 37 full-text articles reviewed, 23 studies (29 457 participants) were included. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with an immediately higher cardiovascular risk that was attenuated after 24 hours, and even protective for myocardial infarction and hemorrhagic stroke (≈2-4 drinks: relative risk=30% lower risk) and protective against ischemic stroke within 1 week (≈6 drinks: 19% lower risk). In contrast, heavy alcohol drinking was associated with higher cardiovascular risk in the following day (≈6-9 drinks: relative risk=1.3-2.3) and week (≈19-30 drinks: relative risk=2.25-6.2). CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a consistent finding of an immediately higher cardiovascular risk following any alcohol consumption, but, by 24 hours, only heavy alcohol intake conferred continued risk.

Chocolate intake and incidence of heart failure: Findings from the Cohort of Swedish Men.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of chocolate consumption and heart failure (HF) in a large population of Swedish men. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 31,917 men 45-79 years old with no history of myocardial infarction, diabetes, or HF at baseline who were participants in the population-based Cohort of Swedish Men study. Chocolate consumption was assessed through a self-administrated food frequency questionnaire. Participants were followed for HF hospitalization or mortality from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2011, using record linkage to the Swedish inpatient and cause-of-death registries. RESULTS: During 14 years of follow-up, 2,157 men were hospitalized (n=1,901) or died from incident HF (n=256). Compared with subjects who reported no chocolate intake, the multivariable-adjusted rate ratio of HF was 0.88 (95% CI 0.78-0.99) for those consuming 1-3 servings per month, 0.83 (95% CI 0.72-0.94) for those consuming 1-2 servings per week, 0.82 (95% CI 0.68-0.99) for those consuming 3-6 servings per week, and 1.10 (95% CI 0.84-1.45) for those consuming ≥1 serving per day (P for quadratic trend=.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, there was a J-shaped relationship between chocolate consumption and HF incidence. Moderate chocolate consumption was associated with a lower rate of HF hospitalization or death, but the protective association was not observed among individuals consuming ≥1 serving per day. Journal Subject Codes: Etiology: Epidemiology, Heart failure: Congestive.

Key Findings on Alcohol Consumption and a Variety of Health Outcomes From the Nurses' Health Study.

OBJECTIVES: To review critical contributions from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) on alcohol consumption and health outcomes. METHODS: We performed a narrative review of NHS (1980-2012) and NHS II (1989-2011) publications. RESULTS: Using detailed information on self-reported alcohol drinking patterns obtained approximately every 4 years combined with extensive information on diet, lifestyle habits, and physician-diagnosed health conditions, NHS investigators have prospectively examined the risks and benefits associated with alcohol consumption. Moderate intake, defined as up to 1 drink a day, is associated with a lower risk of hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death, gallstones, cognitive decline, and all-cause mortality. However, even moderate intake places women at higher risk for breast cancer and bone fractures, and higher intake increases risk for colon polyps and colon cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Regular alcohol intake has both risks and benefits. In analyses using repeated assessments of alcohol over time and deaths from all causes, women with low to moderate intake and regular frequency (> 3 days/week) had the lowest risk of mortality compared with abstainers and women who consumed substantially more than 1 drink per day.

Risk of myocardial infarction immediately after alcohol consumption.

BACKGROUND: Habitual moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI), whereas heavy (binge) drinking is associated with higher cardiovascular risk. However, less is known about the immediate effects of alcohol consumption on the risk of acute MI and whether any association differs by beverage type or usual drinking patterns. METHODS: We conducted a case-crossover analysis of 3869 participants from the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study who were interviewed during hospitalization for acute MI in one of the 64 medical centers across the United States in 1989-1996. We compared the observed number of times that each participant consumed wine, beer, or liquor in the hour preceding MI symptom onset with the expected frequency based on each participant's control information, defined as the number of times the participant consumed alcohol in the past year. RESULTS: Among 3869 participants, 2119 (55%) reported alcohol consumption in the past year, including 76 within 1 hour before acute MI onset. The incidence rate of acute MI onset was elevated 1.72-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37-2.16) within 1 hour after alcohol consumption. The association was stronger for liquor than for beer or wine. The higher rate was not apparent for daily drinkers. For the 24 hours after consumption, there was a 14% lower rate (relative risk = 0.86 [95% CI = 0.79-0.95]) of MI compared with periods with no alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol consumption is associated with an acutely higher risk of MI in the subsequent hour among people who do not typically drink alcohol daily.

Outbursts of anger as a trigger of acute cardiovascular events: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: Short-term psychological stress is associated with an immediate physiological response and may be associated with a transiently higher risk of cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to determine whether brief episodes of anger trigger the onset of acute myocardial infarction (MI), acute coronary syndromes (ACS), ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, and ventricular arrhythmia. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a systematic review of studies evaluating whether outbursts of anger are associated with the short-term risk of heart attacks, strokes, and disturbances in cardiac rhythm that occur in everyday life. We performed a literature search of the CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases from January 1966 to June 2013 and reviewed the reference lists of retrieved articles and included meeting abstracts and unpublished results from experts in the field. Incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated with inverse-variance-weighted random-effect models. The systematic review included nine independent case-crossover studies of anger outbursts and MI/ACS (four studies), ischaemic stroke (two studies), ruptured intracranial aneurysm (one study), and ventricular arrhythmia (two studies). There was evidence of substantial heterogeneity between the studies (I(2) = 92.5% for MI/ACS and 89.8% for ischaemic stroke). Despite the heterogeneity, all studies found that, compared with other times, there was a higher rate of cardiovascular events in the 2h following outbursts of anger. CONCLUSION: There is a higher risk of cardiovascular events shortly after outbursts of anger.

Green space and mortality following ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Residential proximity to green space has been associated with physical and mental health benefits, but whether green space is associated with post-stroke survival has not been studied. METHODS: Patients ≥ 21 years of age admitted to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) between 1999 and 2008 with acute ischemic stroke were identified. Demographics, presenting symptoms, medical history and imaging results were abstracted from medical records at the time of hospitalization for stroke onset. Addresses were linked to average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, distance to roadways with more than 10,000 cars/day, and US census block group. Deaths were identified through June 2012 using the Social Security Death Index. RESULTS: There were 929 deaths among 1645 patients with complete data (median follow up: 5 years). In multivariable Cox models adjusted for indicators of medical history, demographic and socioeconomic factors, the hazard ratio for patients living in locations in the highest quartile of green space compared to the lowest quartile was 0.78 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.63-0.97) (p-trend = 0.009). This association remained statistically significant after adjustment for residential proximity to a high traffic road. CONCLUSIONS: Residential proximity to green space is associated with higher survival rates after ischemic stroke in multivariable adjusted models. Further work is necessary to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for this association, and to better understand the exposure-response relationships and susceptibility factors that may contribute to higher mortality in low green space areas.

Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality: The Women's Health Study.

Background: Alcohol intake is associated with breast cancer (BC) risk, but estimates of greatest public health relevance have not been quantified in large studies with long duration. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study of 39,811 women (median 25 years follow-up), we examined the association between alcohol consumption and BC incidence and mortality with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs), cubic splines, absolute risks, number needed to harm (NNH), and population-attributable fractions. Results: We documented 2,830 cases of BC, including 237 BC deaths. Each additional alcoholic drink/day was associated with a 10% higher rate (HR = 1.10, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 1.04-1.16) of total BC in a linear manner (p = 0.0004). The higher rate was apparent for estrogen receptor (ER)+ (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.18) but not ER- tumors (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.82-1.10), with a statistically significant difference between these associations (p = 0.03). We constructed models comparing BC incidence among 100,000 women followed for 10 years. Compared to a scenario where all women rarely or never consumed alcohol, we expect 63.79 (95% CI: 58.35-69.24) more cases (NNH = 1,567) had all women consumed alcohol at least monthly and 278.66 (95% CI: 268.70-288.62) more cases (NNH = 358) had all women consumed >1 drink/day. Approximately 4.1% of BC cases were attributable to consumption exceeding one drink/month. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption is associated with a linear dose-response increase in BC incidence even within recommended limits of up to one alcoholic drink/day, at least for ER+ tumors. Our estimates of risk differences, attributable fraction, and NNH quantify the burden that alcohol consumption imposes on women in the general population. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00000479.

Risk of acute myocardial infarction after the death of a significant person in one's life: the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study.

BACKGROUND: Acute psychological stress is associated with an abrupt increase in the risk of cardiovascular events. Intense grief in the days after the death of a significant person may trigger the onset of acute myocardial infarction (MI), but this relationship has not been systematically studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a case-crossover analysis of 1985 participants from the multicenter Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study interviewed during index hospitalization for an acute MI between 1989 and 1994. We compared the observed number of deaths in the days preceding MI symptom onset with its expected frequency based on each patient's control information, defined as the occurrence of deaths in the period from 1 to 6 months before infarction. Among the 1985 subjects, 270 (13.6%) experienced the loss of a significant person in the prior 6 months, including 19 within 1 day of their MI. The incidence rate of acute MI onset was elevated 21.1-fold (95% confidence interval, 13.1-34.1) within 24 hours of the death of a significant person and declined steadily on each subsequent day. The absolute risk of MI within 1 week of the death of a significant person is 1 excess MI per 1394 exposed individuals at low (5%) 10-year MI risk and 1 per 320 among individuals at high (20%) 10-year risk. CONCLUSIONS: Grief over the death of a significant person was associated with an acutely increased risk of MI in the subsequent days. The impact may be greatest among individuals at high cardiovascular risk.