Meat Intake and the Development

¶ … meat intake and the development of acute coronary syndromes: the CARDIO2000 case -- control study by Kontogianni, Panagiotakos, Pitsavos, Chrysohoou and Stefanadis (2008) explores the relationship between the consumption of meat and the development of non-fatal acute cardio syndrome. This study controlled for confounding risk factors and found that meat consumption was directly correlated to an increased risk for experiencing an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In particular, the consumption of one serving of meat per month increased the likelihood of the development of ACS by 60% with the odds growing as intake increases (Kontogianni et al., 2008). This study adds to the significant body of research that supports the conclusion that diet and food consumption is directly related to overall health, particularly heart health.

Due to the potential negative impacts of consumption of meat, particularly red meats and those that are processed such as increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, obesity and metabolic syndromes, the researchers hypothesized that there was a correlation between meat intake and the occurrence of a first, non-fatal ACS (Kontogianni et al., 2008). This was supported by various studies that found a connection between dietary intake, particularly processed meats and those high in saturated fats, and the development of heart conditions such as myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease. The present study seeks to add to the body of research that exists regarding diet and heart disease with a particular emphasis on meat consumption.

The researchers utilized a randomized, case control study to explore the association between socio-demographic, nutritional, lifestyle, and clinical factors and the occurrence of non-fatal ACS. Participants were randomly selected from in accordance to the population statistics from the major hospitals in Greece. While 956 participants were selected through power analysis a total of 848 participated in the research study. The inclusion criteria for these 848 patients included experiencing a first event myocardial infarction and/or unstable angina (Kontogianni et al., 2008). These cardiac patients were matched with a randomized control group that had visited the outpatient departments of the same hospitals. The control group was matched demographically with the experimental group in order to ensure the most accurate medical information could be obtained as well as reducing the potential impact of unknown confounding factors.

Participant data was collected in many forms including from medical records, a lifestyle characteristics questionnaire, as well as a semi-quantitative food questionnaire that utilized national food guidelines (Kontogianni et al., 2008). Consumption of meat products, alcohol, cigarette smoking, and physical activity were all measured. Variables were identified as exposure variables and confounding variables, those variables that should have been controlled for but were not and as a result may lead to false conclusions (Creswell, 2009). The variables were operationalized first through the evaluation of the relationship between exposure variables and meat consumption. Then other confounding variables were also introduced and eliminated systematically in order to identify where the true effects occurred. These confounders included body mass index, smoking, physical activity level, educational status, family history of coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and any medications that participants may have been taking (Kontogianni et al., 2008).

In general the experimental group consumed greater amounts of meat than their control counterparts. The investigators utilized multiple logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between meat consumption and ACS and found that increasing meat intake by one portion per month increased the likelihood of the development of ACS by 56%. This was particularly evident when the meat consumed was red or processed increasing the risk by more than two fold (Kontogianni et al., 2008). While the consumption of white meat was also correlated to increased incidence of ACS, this risk was only 37% greater. When controlling for consumption of various food groups or alcoholic beverages, no significant differences were observed between the experiment and control groups.