Similarities and differences between the epidemiology and possible dietary causes of coronary arterial disease and strokes.

The findings of a previous statistical study of the relationship between food consumption and mortality from coronary arterial disease are compared with those of a new study of food consumption and cerebrovascular disease. The previous study found strong positive correlation between male mortality from coronary arterial disease and the consumption of two food items, milk and oats. Stroke mortality appears to be linked with the consumption of a wide variety of proteinaceous plants. These can be divided into two groups, one with an apparently strong and the other with an apparently mild effect. The strong group consists of the protein content of pulses, oats, maize and rye, the milder group of the protein content of wheat, rice, barley, potatoes and vegetables. The relative effect of the two groups of proteins is of the order of 6/1, but the proteins with a relatively mild effect are consumed in large quantities in comparison with those having a strong effect so that their effect is not negligible. The correlation coefficient between male cerebrovascular mortality in the younger age groups and the combined consumption of the two groups of plant proteins is 0.91. That between male mortality from coronary arterial disease and the consumption of milk and oats found in the previous study was 0.94.