Nutritional determinants of haemostatic factors in the Caerphilly Study

A study of possible nutritional determinants of certain haemostatic factors (heparin-neutralizing activity, fibrinogen and antithrombin III) was conducted in the Caerphilly cohort of 2512 men. Data on diet were obtained in a sub-sample of 665 men by a 7-d weighed dietary inventory and in the complete cohort by questionnaire. All the associations between major nutrients and haemostatic factors were weak and few achieved statistical significance. There were significant associations between two of the blood tests and total energy intake which suggests that, in general, relationships between nutritional variables and thrombosis-related factors should be standardized for total energy intake. Negative associations between alcohol, fibrinogen and antithrombin III and positive associations between fibre, polyunsaturated fat and antithrombin III are of possible clinical or public health importance. However, nutritional factors appear to explain only about 3 per cent of the variance in the distributions of the haemostatic factors examined. The extent to which uncertainties in the measurement of dietary intake will have led to the underestimate of the true association is, of course, unknown. At the same time it is of relevance that in similar studies of dietary determinants of plasma cholesterol only about 3 per cent of the variance of cholesterol levels can be explained.