Diet soda could cause a stroke
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Drinking conventional soft drinks high in sugar may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease like myocardial infarction and stroke.
Now a new study suggests even drinking calorie-free diet soda could cause health problems as well.
The study led by Hannah Gardener, Sc.D. at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Fla. and colleagues found men and women who drank diet soda every day were at 61 percent increased risk of vascular events or stroke compared with those who did not use soda.
The study suggests artificial sweeteners may have something to do with vascular disease.
The findings were just reported at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2011.
Diet soda is a type of non-alcoholic carbonated beverage that uses artificial sweetener(s), but no sugar. The soft drink is often used by health conscious individuals, diabetics, athletes and those who want to lose weight, improve their fitness or reduce intake of calories.
Dr. Gardener et al. surveyed 3,298 participants aged 40 or older for their using of diet soda during a period of 9.3 years during which 559 vascular events including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke were recorded.
The association between using diet soda and increased risk of vascular events was valid even after other risk factors were considered including age, gender, race, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol drinking, and daily intake of calories.The increase in the risk of experiencing a stroke was 48 percent higher in the diet soda drinkers than those who did not consume diet soda. The association was derived after adjustment for participants' metabolic syndrome, peripheral vascular disease and heart disease history.
The researchers caution there are some limitations in the study. For instance, the analysis was based on data self-reported at a single time.
The artificial sweeteners in diet soda include aspartame, cyclamates, saccharin, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium while the study did not look at the type of diet soda used by each participant and the sweeteners used in the diet sodas.
Cyclamates were banned by the FDA in the U.S. in 1970 because these additives are linked with increased cancer risk in animals. Aspartame has also been linked to increased risk of certain malignancies when higher doses were administered in mice who were kept until they died.
Aspartame has been linked to damaged kidney functions and headache among other things, according to Naturalnews.com, which also reported that the manufacturer of aspartame changed the sweetener's name to AminoSweet to avoid its bad publicity.
The current study did not prove definitively diet soda causes stroke. It could be that many of those who drank diet soda were already obese or overweight when they started drinking diet soda. Obesity has been linked to a range of health problems.
By David Liu and editing by Aimee Keenan-Greene
Photo credit: wikipedia
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