Deans' stroke musings: Dietary zinc intake associated with stroke in American adults

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Monday, May 26, 2025

Dietary zinc intake associated with stroke in American adults

Didn't the mentors and senior researchers know about all this earlier research? Or does incompetence reign in stroke as I fully suspect?

Zinc deficiency—an independent risk factor in the pathogenesis of haemorrhagic stroke? November 2020

Serum zinc levels and incidence of ischemic stroke: the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke study August 2021

Selenium, Copper, Zinc Concentrations and Cu/Zn, Cu/Se Molar Ratios in the Serum of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke in Northeastern Poland—A New Insight into Stroke Pathophysiology June 2021

Serum/plasma zinc is apparently increased in ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis April 2021

The latest here:

Dietary zinc intake associated with stroke in American adults

Scientific Reports volume 15, Article number: 18301 (2025) Cite this article

Metrics details

Abstract

Evidence on the relationship between dietary zinc intake and stroke in American populations is limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between dietary zinc consumption and stroke prevalence among US adults. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from adults (≥ 18 years) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2013 and 2020. Dietary zinc intake, stroke history, and other relevant factors were examined. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between dietary zinc consumption and stroke risk, while restricted cubic splines (RCS) were applied to explore potential non-linear relationships. A total of 2642 adults from four NHANES cycles (2013–2020) were included in the analysis. In multivariate logistic regression, individuals in the second quartile of dietary zinc intake (Q2: 6.09–8.83 mg/day) had a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for stroke (OR = 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41–0.99, p = 0.044) compared with those in the lowest quartile (Q1: ≤6.08 mg/day). RCS analysis indicated an L-shaped relationship between dietary zinc intake and stroke odds (p = 0.041). Threshold analysis revealed that for individuals consuming less than 8.82 mg of zinc daily, the OR for stroke was 0.858 (95% CI 0.74–0.99, p = 0.037). Our findings suggest an L-shaped association between dietary zinc intake and stroke prevalence in American adults, with higher zinc intake associated with lower odds of stroke within a specific intake range.

Introduction

Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and the third most common cause of disability, posing significant public health and socioeconomic challenges during treatment and post-stroke rehabilitation efforts^1,2,3. The two primary types of stroke are ischemic stroke (IS) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS)⁴. Lifestyle modifications, particularly dietary changes and physical activity, are among the most effective strategies for preventing and reducing stroke risk^5,6,7,8. Therefore, investigating the impact of specific nutrients on stroke risk may provide valuable insights into prevention and management strategies^9,10. Recently, the role of dietary zinc intake in neurological diseases has drawn attention^11,12,13.

Zinc is an essential trace mineral with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, playing a critical role in maintaining membrane stability, cellular metabolism, cell proliferation and transformation, immune responses, and oxidative stress regulation^14,15,16,17. Zinc is also necessary for maintaining the typical physiological processes in humans. It plays a critical role as a cofactor for antioxidant enzymes. Zinc deficiency has been linked to several chronic conditions, such as seizures, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, hypertension, depression, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD)^18,19,20,21. Studies have reported that stroke patients tend to have lower serum zinc levels than healthy individuals and that zinc supplementation may aid in neurological recovery following a stroke^22,23,24,25. However, these studies primarily focused on serum levels in stroke patients rather than examining dietary zinc intake in the general population.

In this study, we conducted a large cross-sectional analysis using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to evaluate the potential relationship between dietary zinc consumption and stroke prevalence. We hypothesized that individuals with a history of stroke would have lower dietary zinc intake compared to the general population.