Diet soft drinks may raise stroke risk, study suggests
Baku, February 16 (AZERTAC). New research is raising fresh worries about diet soft drinks, noting that people who drink them every day have a higher risk for strokes and heart attacks compared to those who drink no pop at all.
But the researchers are quick to point out that their study does not prove that diet soft drinks cause heart attacks or strokes. They note there could be other aspects about diet pop drinkers that accounts for the increased risk that they observed.
The research was presented this week at the American Stroke Association`s International Stroke Conference 2011. It found that people who drank diet pop every day had a 48 per cent higher risk of stroke or heart attack than people who said they never drank the stuff.
The study`s lead researcher, Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami, says she has no idea why diet soft drinks could be risky.
However, the researchers tried to take into account these known stroke risk factors. And yet, they still didn`t see a change in the link between drinking diet pop and increased stroke risk.
The study involved more than 2,500 people over the age of 40 who took part in the large, multi-ethnic Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS).
Researchers asked the study subjects to report how much and what kind of pop they drank and about other aspects of their lifestyle.
They then grouped the subjects into seven categories:
Over the course of nearly 10 years, there were 559 "vascular events" among the group -- including hemorrhagic strokes, the more common ischemic stroke, and heart attacks. Among them, 338 were fatal.
The researchers calculated that people who drank diet pop every day had a 61 per cent higher risk of a vascular event than those who reported drinking no pop. After they adjusted the findings to account for patients` diabetes, waistline size and other lifestyle differences, the increased risk persisted, leaving diet pop drinkers at a 48 per cent increased risk.
The study did not control for body mass index, a family history of heart disease, or cholesterol levels, all of which can increase heart attack or stroke risk.
No significant differences in risk were seen among people who drank a mix of diet and regular soda.
A study published in 2007 by researchers from the University of Alberta found that young animals that became used to diet drinks and articifically sweetened foods tended to overeat during meals of regular-calorie food.
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