Heart Risk Associated With Drinking Diet Soda

Diet sodas and other beverages intended for calorie counters have been associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes in postmenopausal women, according to the results of a new study.

The results were presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 63rd Annual Scientific Session and Exposition In Washington D.C. this weekend.

According to Dr. Ankur Vyas of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, who lead the study, older women who drank two or more diet drinks a day were found to be 30 percent more likely to suffer from cardiovascular complications and 50 percent more likely to die from a related disease, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Vyas explained that his research team came to these conclusions after analyzing the diet beverage intake of nearly 60,000 postmenopausal women who were participants in the Women's Health Initiative -- a continuous U.S. observational study of heart-health trends in middle to senior-aged women.

The women involved in the study were asked to report their diet drink consumption over three months as well as regular estimated diet drinking habits via a questionnaire.

Almost nine years later, the research team performed a follow-up, looking for negative heart-related outcomes among the participants. Negative outcomes included heart failure, heart attack, stroke, arterial disease, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular death.

The researcher found that 8.5 percent of the participants who consumed two or more diet sodas or fruit drinks a day had suffered from one of these negative outcomes. Lesser rates were seen in women who had reported drinking diet drinks less frequently, with only 7.2 percent of the women who reported consuming  zero to three diet drinks a month experiencing one or more of the same adverse outcomes.

Although the association was obvious, Vyas was quick to point out that his team did not find a cause-and-effect relationship. He did note, however, that women who consumed diet drinks frequently were also found to be younger, more prone to be smokers, were frequently diabetic, had high blood pressure, and were often overweight -- all factors that increase the risk of CVD and other heart complications. This indicates that the beverages themselves may in-fact not be the cause of the heart problems, but instead just an inidcator of an at-risk lifestyle.

The results of the study were reported at the ACC's 63rd Annual Scientific Session and Exposition In Washington D.C. this weekend.

As these results have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, it is suggested that they be viewed as preliminary findings until the time of official publication.