Drinking one to six diet sodas a week doubles the risk for stroke and may also increase the risk for dementia, according to a study of 4,000 people over age 45 in the journal Stroke. The reasons for the link are unknown, says The New York Times.
“The study adjusted for age, sex, education, physical activity, diabetes, smoking and many other characteristics that might affect the risks,” says the Times. “But the senior author, Dr. Sudha Seshadri, a professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, said that there were additional variables the study could not address. For example, she said, people might have switched to diet soda because they already had cardiovascular problems.”