Lifestyle factors such as daily sunlight exposure and black tea consumption may influence the risk of developing wild-type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), according to a study recently published in the International Heart Journal.
Increasingly, scientists are recognizing that lifestyle factors may play a role in the development of various diseases. Lifestyle factors related to oxidative stress — an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants that causes cell damage — is a particular area of focus.
The study’s researchers sought to uncover if certain lifestyle factors related to oxidative stress were associated with an increased risk of developing wild-type ATTR-CM. They conducted a questionnaire survey of patients suspected of having ATTR-CM at a medical institution between April 2021 and March 2022. In addition, they also invited individuals who were confirmed not to have wild-type ATTR-CM to participate in the study.
In total, 65 patients with wild-type ATTR-CM took part in this survey, as did 65 healthy patients (forming the control group). The survey examined various lifestyle choices, such as the drinking of tea and coffee, physical exercise, smoking, food selection, sunlight exposure and alcohol consumption.
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After collecting the responses from participants and applying statistical analysis to determine the relevance of the lifestyle factors in developing wild-type ATTR-CM, the team of Japanese researchers reported a number of significant findings.
For example, they identified that the male sex was an independent predictor of occurrence of wild-type ATTR-CM. In addition, past sunlight exposure of an hour or more a day was slightly associated with an increased risk of developing wild-type ATTR-CM. However, drinking at least a cup a day of black tea was associated with a lowered risk of developing the disease. Perhaps surprisingly, a past history of smoking was associated with a decreased risk of developing wild-type ATTR-CM.
“While the current study indicates that various lifestyle factors influencing oxidative stress are associated with the development of ATTRwt-CA, establishing a causal relationship remains a task for future research,” the authors concluded.
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