Salted fish ups intra-cerebral hemorrhage risk

Eating too much salted fish is not only linked to a higher risk of intracerebral haemorrhage as well, a recent study published in the Sept 2009 issue of British Journal of Nutrition suggests.

Early studies have associated salted fish with high risk of stomach cancer.

The new study showed that those whose intake of salted fish was in the highest tertile were 98 percent more likely to suffer intracerebral haemorrhage than those with their intake in lowest tertile. 

Eating fish is believed to help prevent cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke, according to the background of the study report.

For the study, Montonen J and colleagues from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinski, Finland examined the association between consumption of different types of fish and cerebrovascular disease or CVA among 3958 men and women aged 40 to 79 who participated in the survey between 1967 and 1972.

The researchers found that the total fish intake was not linked to CVA, but consumption of salted fish was correlated with an elevated risk of intra-cerebral hemorrhage.

JD