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Health: Of Milk and Men | |
| By The Associated Press DALLAS - Bottoms up, fellas. With the white stuff. Men who do not drink milk have twice the rate of thromboembolic stroke as those who drink 16 ounces or more of milk each day, according to a study reported in the American Heart Association journal, Stroke. A thromboembolic stroke, also called a "brain attack," results from a clot blocking blood flow to part of the brain. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of major disability, says the AHA. It may not be just the milk but the healthier lifestyle of the man who drinks it, says Dr. Robert D. Abbott, lead author of the study. "Since milk is often part of a diverse pattern of dietary intake, it is difficult to determine whether milk consumption has a direct role in reducing the risk of stroke," he says. The study, part of the Honolulu Heart Program, was aimed at analyzing the effects of calcium and milk consumption on stroke risk. Some research suggests that dietary calcium intake can lower blood pressure; high blood pressure is one of the main causes of stroke. Only 3.7 percent of the men in the study sample who said they drink two or more servings of milk each day experienced stroke, compared to 7.9 percent of those who said they drank no milk. Even so, there were no real differences in stroke risk according to dietary calcium intake from non-dairy sources. Because no relationship between stroke risk and non-dairy calcium sources was established, the researchers theorize that something related to milk consumption contributes to risk reduction. "There's something else in milk, or in the lifestyles of milk drinkers, that's offering protection," Abbott says. "These factors are difficult to identify, but milk drinkers tended to be leaner and more physically active and to consume foods that were more likely to be healthy." Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |