BACKGROUND: Previous studies found relations between @entity65 and minerals in drinking water, but the major works considered water hardness or neglected the differences between adults and elderly. Drinking water is an important source of @entity460 in the elderly particularly because of increased needs and decreased consumption of dairy products. METHODS: We collected informations about all @entity204 (14,311) occurring in 69 parishes of the South-West of France during 7 years (1990-1996). We obtained the causes of @entity204 from a special service of INSERM for each @entity204 , with age at @entity204 and sex. The exposure value was supplied by administrative source (DDASS) and by measurement surveys. We use an extra-Poisson variation model to take into account the heterogeneity of the population of these parishes. RESULTS: A significant relationship was observed between @entity460 and @entity65 with a RR: 0.90 for non-cerebrovascular causes and RR: 0.86 for cerebrovascular (when @entity460 is higher than the second tercile: 94 mg/l). We found a protective effect of @entity1760 concentrations between 4 and 11 mg/l with a RR: 0.92 for non-cerebrovascular and RR: 0.77 for cerebrovascular mortality, as compared to concentrations lower than 4 mg/l. CONCLUSIONS: These findings strongly suggest a potential protective dose-effect relation between @entity460 in drinking water and cardiovascular causes. For @entity1760 , a U-shape effect is possible, especially for cerebrovascular mortality.

@entity65 and @entity460 and XXXX in drinking water: an ecological study in elderly people.

@entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death', 'deaths'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['cardiovascular mortality'] @entity460 :: ('MESH:D002118', 'Chemical') :: ['calcium'] @entity1760 :: ('MESH:D008274', 'Chemical') :: ['magnesium']
@entity1760 :: (MESH:D008274,Chemical) :: ['magnesium']
