From Newsmax Health
Women who drink just one fizzy drink each day dramatically raise their risk of suffering a deadly stroke, according to researchers at Osaka University, and the risk applies to both sweetened and low-calorie alternatives.
Japanese researchers followed almost 40,000 men and women between the ages of 40 and 59 for 18 years. Their eating habits were tracked, including how many soft drinks they consumed. During the study period almost 2,000 of the participants had a stroke.
At the end of the study, scientists analyzed the drinking habits of the volunteers and compared the soda consumption of the stroke victims to those who didn't have strokes. Although drinking soda raised men's risk of stroke slightly, the increase for women was dramatic.
The scientists discovered that women who drank soft drinks every day increased their risk of suffering an ischemic stroke — when a weakened blood vessel bursts and causes hemorrhaging inside the brain — by 83 percent when compared to women who never or only rarely drank soft drinks.
The Japanese study isn't the first one to link stroke and soft drinks. Last year, researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute and Harvard University found drinking a single soda every day raises the risk of having a stroke. Scientists found that sugary sodas increased the risk of ischemic stroke, caused when a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot.
Diet sodas fared no better, increasing the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, triggered when a weakened blood vessel bursts and causes hemorrhaging inside the brain. The risk for both types of stroke was higher in women than men, but the new Japanese study shows just how high that risk is — more than 80 percent.
There are many ways to lower your risk of having a stroke in addition to cutting your consumption of soft drinks. They include:
1. Control blood pressure. According to the National Stroke Association, high blood pressure is a leading risk factor for stroke.
2. Reduce the use of painkillers. A study published in the medical journal Stroke suggested that painkillers raise the risk of stroke.
3. Eat more fish. A study published in the American Journal of Nutrition found that women who ate more than three servings of fish weekly cut their risk of having a stroke by 16 percent.
4. Eat less meat. A study of Swedish women found that eating only 3.6 ounces of red meat a day increases the risk of an ischemic stroke, in which a blood clot blocks flow to the brain, by 42 percent.
5. Walk more. A study at Harvard School of Public Health found that women who walked more than two hours a week reduced their risk of stroke by 30 percent when compared to women who didn't walk at all.
