Diet and Lifestyle Factors and Incident Acute Mesenteric Ischemia-A Prospective Cohort Study

Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is life-threatening and difficult to diagnose in time. Unlike many cardiovascular diseases, the association between lifestyle factors such as diet, alcohol consumption, and physical activity and AMI is unknown.

This study is a prospective cohort study with 28,098 middle-aged participants with a mean follow-up time of 23.1 years. Baseline characteristics were obtained with questionnaires regarding physical activity, lifestyle, and diet. The primary endpoint was a diagnosis of AMI identified through the Swedish National Patient Register. Follow-up times were decided by the date of diagnosis, death, or end of follow-up, 2022-12-31.

The total number of patients with AMI was 140. Current smoking (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.91-4.79) and those with the highest alcohol consumption (aHR 2.53, 95% CI 1.27-5.03) had a higher risk of developing AMI. Participants with high physical activity, 25.1-50.0 metabolic equivalent task hours per week (MET-h/week), had a lower risk (aHR 0.51, 95% CI 0.27-0.95). Diet quality and dietary components did not affect the risk of AMI.

Smoking and higher alcohol consumption were associated with higher risk, while physical activity was associated with lower risk of AMI in this prospective cohort. Diet quality and dietary components were less relevant for the prediction of AMI than these traditional risk factors of atherosclerotic disease.