Diet sodas may lead to kidney problems in women

William Atkins
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 19:53

Science - Health

Two or more diet sodas each day were found to double a women’s risk of having kidney problems. And, these same two-plus diet-soda per day women had a 30% decrease in their kidney function over the length of the study.

The U.S. researchers studied 3,256 women, with a middle (median) age of 67 years, who were participating in a Nurses' Health Study.

They took the data that related to the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially-sweetened-based beverages, along with information that involved kidney function.

[Stock Photograph: Six-pack of diet soda (u10332963 Lushpix Value Royalty Free Photograph, http://www.fotosearch.com/UNZ217/u10332963/)]

Dr. Julie Lin, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated, "Thirty percent is considered significant.” [WebMD (11/2/2009): "Diet Sodas May Be Hard on the Kidneys”]

The study’s results stated that many of the participants of the study had normally functioning kidneys at the beginning of the study (1984) but had lowered function at the end of the study (1990).

The researchers found that 372 women (11.4%), between 1989 and 2000, had decreased kidney function of 30% or more.

They concluded that the decline in the women was due to drinking two or more artificially sweetened sodas each day.

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