Background: We performed this study to examine the association between egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality in a nationally representative cohort of 9734 adults aged 25 to 74 years.
Material/methods: Egg consumption was categorized into no or less than 1 egg, 1 to 6 eggs, or greater than 6 eggs per week. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to identify the relative risk (RR) of incident stroke, ischemic stroke, coronary artery disease and mortality over a 20-year follow-up in all participants and subsequently in diabetic participants.
Results: After adjusting for differences in age, gender, race, serum cholesterol level, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, educational status and cigarette smoking, no significant difference was observed between persons who consumed greater than 6 eggs per week compared to those who consume none or less than 1 egg per week in regards to any stroke (RR, 0.9; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.7 to 1.1), ischemic stroke (RR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.7 to 1.1), or coronary artery disease (RR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.9 to 1.3). In subgroup analysis among diabetics, consumption of greater than 6 eggs per week was associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease (RR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-3.8).
Conclusions: Consumption of greater than 6 eggs per week (average of 1 egg or greater per day) does not increase the risk of stroke and ischemic stroke. The increased risk of coronary artery disease associated with higher egg consumption among diabetics warrants further investigations.