Traces Of Metals In Urine Were Associated With Increased Risk Of CVD, All-Cause Mortality, Study Finds

MedPage Today (8/1, Lou) reports, “Traces of non-essential and essential metals in urine were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, according to the largest epidemiological study on the topic to date.” Investigators found, “based on the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), individual urinary metals were tied to incident events over more than 17 years when comparing the highest to lowest quartiles: Cadmium: HR 1.25 for CVD (95% CI 1.03-1.53) and HR 1.68 for death (95% CI 1.43-1.96); Tungsten: HR 1.20 for CVD (95% CI 1.01-1.42) and HR 1.16 for death (95% CI 1.01-1.33); Uranium: HR 1.32 for CVD (95% CI 1.08-1.62) and HR 1.32 for death (95% CI 1.12-1.56); Cobalt: HR 1.24 for CVD (95% CI 1.03-1.48) and HR 1.37 for death (95% CI 1.19-1.58); Copper: HR 1.42 for CVD (95% CI 1.18-1.70) and HR 1.50 for death (95% CI 1.29-1.74); Zinc: HR 1.21 for CVD (95% CI 1.01-1.45) and HR 1.38 for death (95% CI 1.20-1.59)” Meanwhile, “increasing levels of the six metals, mixed, were associated with 29% more CVD and 66% more all-cause mortality after accounting for demographic, lifestyle, and clinical risk factors.” The findings were published in Circulation.