Artificially Sweetened Drinks Increase the Risk for Stroke and Dementia

The consumption of artificially sweetened drinks, including diet soda, was associated with a higher risk for stroke and dementia, according to the results of a new study.

In the observational study, the researchers followed 2888 participants older than age 45 years (45% men) for incident stroke and 1484 participants older than age 60 years for incident dementia, who were all part of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort. The researchers used data on beverage intake from the food-frequency questionnaires administered during examinations 5 (1991-1995), 6 (1995-1998), and 7 (1998-2001) and followed up with participants for 10 years.
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The researchers observed 97 cases of stroke, 82 of which were ischemic, and 81 cases of dementia, 63 of which were consistent with Alzheimer disease.

Higher recent consumption and higher cumulative consumption of artificially sweetened drinks were associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, all-cause dementia, and Alzheimer disease dementia after adjusting for age, sex, caloric intake, and other variables.

In comparison with individuals who consumed zero artificially sweetened beverages per week, the hazard ratio for those who consumed daily artificially sweetened beverages was 2.96 (95% confidence interval, 1.26–6.97) for ischemic stroke and 2.89 (95% confidence interval, 1.18–7.07) for Alzheimer disease.

Conversely, the researchers did not observe associations of stroke or dementia with sugar-sweetened beverages.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Pase MP, Himali JJ, Beiser AS, et al. Sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages and the risks of incident stroke and dementia: a prospective cohort study [published online April 20, 2017]. Stroke. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.016027.