Consuming diet soda may increase your risk of dementia and stroke: Study

Drinking diet sodas could increase your risk of developing dementia and stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine. These types of drinks contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame and saccharine, which could make the beverage harmful for our health.

For the study, researchers carefully monitored close to 4,000 people out of which 3,000 had the potential to develop dementia or experience a stroke.

A follow-up after10 years revealed those who regularly drank artificially sweetened beverages, like diet soda, had a significantly high risk of developingAlzheimer's, as well as a stroke. The chances of developing these health issues were just as high when the team took into account other factors like diet, smoking status, fitness and age.

However, what was most interesting was that the team were unable to explain the link between the three. It is important to know the study was observational and more research is needed to determine whether diet sodas are the cause of dementia and stroke.

"Even if someone is three times as likely to develop stroke or dementia, it is by no means a certain fate," study author Matthew Pase, who is a senior fellow at the Boston University School of Medicine told a news portal. Adding,"In our study, 3 per cent of the people had a new stroke and 5 per cent developed dementia, so we're still talking about a small number of people developing stroke or dementia."

The study's findings were originally published in theAmerican Heart Association journal Stroke.