Publication date: Aug 02, 2024
There have been mixed results reported internationally when associating vegetarian dietary patterns with all-cause and cause-specific mortalities. To extend our previous results by evaluating, with a larger number of deaths (N=12515), cause-specific mortalities comparing different vegetarian types to non-vegetarians. This prospective study used data from the Adventist Health Study-2 cohort. Mortality was ascertained between study baseline, 2002-2007 and follow-up through 2015. Dietary data were collected at baseline using a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire and then categorized into five dietary patterns: non-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, and vegan. Main outcomes and measures include all-cause and cause-specific mortalities using Cox proportional hazards regression models and competing risk methods. The analytic sample included 88400 participants who provided 971424 person-years of follow-up. We report results as estimated at ages 65 and 85 years due to age-dependence of many hazard ratios (HR’s). Compared to non-vegetarians, vegetarians had lower risks of mortality (HR’s and 95% confidence interval – 95% CI at age 65; followed by same at age 85 years in parentheses), overall (0. 89[0. 83,0. 95];0. 98[0. 91,1. 04]), from renal failure (0. 52[0. 38,0. 70]; 0. 65[0. 55,0. 76]), infectious disease (0. 57[0. 40,0. 82];0. 90[0. 70,1. 17]), diabetes (0. 51[0. 33,0. 78]; 0. 69[0. 53,0. 88]), select cardiac (0. 75[0. 65,0. 87]; 0. 89[0. 83,0. 95]), and ischemic heart disease causes (0. 730. 59,0. 90]; 0. 84[0. 75,0. 94]). Vegans, lacto-ovo-vegetarians and pesco-vegetarians were also observed to have lower risks of total mortality and several similar cause-specific mortalities. However, higher cause-specified neurological mortalities were observed among older vegetarians (estimated at age 85 years), specifically stroke (HR=1. 17[1. 02,1. 33]), dementia (HR=1. 13[1. 00,1. 27]), and Parkinson’s Disease (HR=1. 37[0. 98,1. 91]). Results in Black subjects for vegetarian/nonvegetarian comparisons largely followed the same trends, but HR’s were less precise due to smaller numbers. Vegetarian diets are associated with lower risk for all-cause and many cause-specific mortalities, especially among males and in younger subjects. However, higher risks were observed among older vegetarians for stroke and dementia. These results need further support and investigation.
Concepts | Keywords |
---|---|
Diabetes | chronic disease |
Models | healthy diet |
Vegetarians | longevity |
plant-based diet |
Semantics
Type | Source | Name |
---|---|---|
disease | MESH | renal failure |
disease | MESH | infectious disease |
pathway | REACTOME | Infectious disease |
disease | MESH | ischemic heart disease |
disease | MESH | causes |
disease | MESH | stroke |
disease | MESH | dementia |
disease | MESH | Parkinson’s Disease |
disease | MESH | chronic disease |
disease | MESH | causes of death |