High spicy food intake may increase the risk of esophageal cancer: A meta-analysis and systematic review

Association between daily consumption of spicy food and bone mineral density in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional study

Background: Many studies have reported the effects of spicy food on human health, but no studies have been conducted on the impact of long-term spicy food consumption on bone mineral density (BMD). This study aimed to investigate the impact of daily consumption of spicy food on BMD in the population aged 50 years and older. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2020 to 2022 in Jiangxi Province, China. This study investigated the differences in BMD between non-consumers and daily spicy food consumers in adults aged 50-85 years. A multiple linear regression model was used to investigate the association between spicy food consumption and BMD of the total lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN), and total hip, as well as biochemical markers of bone metabolism (BMBM) levels. Results: The results showed that daily consumption of spicy food was negatively associated with total LS BMD (β = -0.013, P = 0.015). Subgroup analyses showed this negative association was more pronounced among smokers and drinkers compared to non-smokers (β: -0.006 vs. -0.042; P for interaction <0.05) and non-drinkers (β: -0.004 vs. -0.037; P for interaction <0.05). In addition, according to the daily frequency of spicy food consumption, the daily spicy food consumers were categorized into one meal per day, two meals per day, and three meals per day groups. Further analysis revealed that the negative association between spicy food and total LS BMD was progressively stronger as the frequency of daily consumption of spicy food increased (P for trend <0.05). For BMBM, daily consumption of spicy food was positively associated with serum PINP levels and negatively associated with serum Ca and serum Mg levels. Conclusions: Our study suggested that daily consumption of spicy food was associated with lower LS BMD in middle-aged and older Chinese adults, and this association was more pronounced in the smoking and drinking populations. The adverse effects of spicy food on LS BMD become progressively stronger with increasing frequency of daily consumption of spicy food. In addition, daily consumption of spicy food was associated with higher PINP levels and lower serum Ca and Mg levels.

Medication use during pregnancy and the risk of gastroschisis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

OBJECTIVES

The aetiology of gastroschisis is considered multifactorial. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether the use of medications during pregnancy, is associated with the risk of gastroschisis in offspring.

METHODS

PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus were searched from 1st January 1990 to 31st December 2020 to identify observational studies examining the association between medication use during pregnancy and the risk of gastroschisis. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used for the quality assessment of the individual studies. We pooled adjusted measures using a random-effect model to estimate relative risk [RR] and the 95% confidence interval [CI]. I2 statistic for heterogeneity and publication bias was calculated.

RESULTS

Eighteen studies providing data on 751,954 pregnancies were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled RRs showed significant associations between aspirin (RR 1.66, 95% CI 1.16-2.38; I2 = 58.3%), oral contraceptives (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.21-1.92; I2 = 22.0%), pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.16-1.97; I2 = 33.2%), ibuprofen (RR 1.42, 95% CI 1.26-1.60; I2 = 0.0%), and gastroschisis. No association was observed between paracetamol and gastroschisis (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.96-1.41; I2 = 39.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the exposure in the first trimester of pregnancy to over the counter medications (OTC) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine as well as to oral contraceptives, was associated with an increased risk of gastroschisis. However, these associations are significant only in particular subgroups defined by geographic location, adjustment variables and type of control. Therefore, further research is needed to investigate them as potential risk factors for gastroschisis, to assess their safety in pregnancy and to develop treatment strategies to reduce the risk of gastroschisis in offspring. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021287529.

Association between spicy food and hypertension among Han Chinese aged 30-79 years in Sichuan Basin: a population-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

While spicy food is believed to have cardiovascular-protective effects, its impact on hypertension remains uncertain due to conflicting findings from previous studies. This study aimed to explore the association between spicy food and hypertension in Sichuan Basin, China.

METHODS

The baseline data of 43,657 residents aged 30-79 in the Sichuan Basin were analyzed including a questionnaire survey (e.g., sociodemographics, diet and lifestyle, medical history), medical examinations (e.g., height, body weight, and blood pressure), and clinical laboratory tests (e.g., blood and urine specimens). Participants were recruited by multi-stage, stratified cluster sampling in consideration of both sex ratio and age ratio between June 2018 and February 2019. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to explore the effect of spicy food on hypertension and multivariable linear regression was applied to estimate the effect of spicy food on systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP).

RESULTS

Concerning hypertension, negative associations with spicy food consumption were observed only in females: compared to those who do not eat spicy food, the odds ratios of consuming spicy food 6-7 days/week, consuming spicy food with strong strength, and years of eating spicy food-to-age ratio were 0.886 (0.799, 0.982), 0.757 (0.587, 0.977), 0.632 (0.505, 0.792), respectively. No significant association was found in males (All P trends > 0.05). In the stratified analyses, participants in the subgroup who were 50 to 79 years old (OR, 95%CI: 0.814, 0.763, 0.869), habitually snored (OR, 95%CI: 0.899, 0.829, 0.976), had a BMI < 24 kg/m2 (OR, 95%CI: 0.886, 0.810, 0.969), had a normal waist circumference (OR, 95%CI: 0.898, 0.810, 0.997), and had no dyslipidemia (OR, 95%CI: 0.897, 0.835, 0.964) showed a significantly stronger association. For SBP, consuming spicy food had negative effects in both genders, but the effect was smaller in males compared to females: among males, the β coefficients for consuming spicy food 1-2 days/week, weak strength, and years of eating spicy food-to-age ratio were 0.931 (-1.832, -0.030), -0.639 (-1.247, -0.032), and - 2.952 (-4.413, -1.492), respectively; among females, the β coefficients for consuming spicy food 3-5 days/week, 6-7 days/week, weak strength, moderate strength, and years of eating spicy food-to-age ratio were - 1.251 (-2.115, -0.388), -1.215 (-1.897, -0.534), -0.788 (-1.313, -0.263), -1.807 (-2.542, -1.072), and - 5.853 (-7.195, -4.512), respectively. For DBP, only a positive association between the years of eating spicy food-to-age ratio and DBP was found in males with β coefficient (95%CI ) of 1.300 (0.338, 2.263); Little association was found in females (all P trends > 0.05), except for a decrease of 0.591 mmHg ( 95%CI: -1.078, -0.105) in DBP among participants who consumed spicy food 1-2 days/week, compared to those who did not consume spicy food.

CONCLUSION

Spicy food may lower SBP and has an antihypertensive effect, particularly beneficial for women and individuals with fewer risk factors in the Sichuan Basin. Spicy food consumption may decrease DBP in women but increase it in men. Further multicenter prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these findings.