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Minerals Not Linked to Multiple Sclerosis Risk in Women

Associations null when women with highest versus lowest intake in quintiles, deciles compared

WEDNESDAY, April 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Mineral intake seems not to be associated with the risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) among women, according to a study published online April 3 in Neurology.

Marianna Cortese, M.D., Ph.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues examined the correlation between mineral intake and MS risk in a prospective cohort study. Dietary and supplemental mineral intake was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire administered every four years to 80,920 nurses in the Nurses’ Health Study and 94,511 in the Nurses’ Health Study II. During follow-up, there were 479 new cases of MS.

The researchers observed no association between minerals and MS risk, either for baseline or cumulative intake during follow-up. When women with the highest versus the lowest intakes in quintiles or deciles were compared, the associations were null; no significant trend was seen for higher intakes (Ptrend across baseline quintiles: potassium, 0.35; magnesium, 0.13; calcium, 0.22; phosphorus, 0.97; iron, 0.85; zinc, 0.67; manganese, 0.48; and copper, 0.59).

“In this prospective study, we found no evidence that intake of minerals is related to MS risk,” the authors write.

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