Artificial drinks 'damage kidneys'
Too many artificially sweetened soft drinks may damage the kidneys, a study suggests.
Researchers looked at the effect of soda drinks on more than 3,000 women taking part in the Nurses' Health Study, a major lifestyle and health investigation in the US.
They compared drinks that were sweetened with sugar and artificially sweetened.
The results showed that two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day doubled the risk of a faster-than-average decline in kidney function.
No-such association was found with sugar-sweetened drinks.
The link persisted after taking account of other risk factors including age, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and heart disease.
More work was needed to uncover the mechanism behind the trend, said the scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
The findings were presented at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in San Diego, California.
A separate study by the team involving the same group of women also found a link between sodium intake and kidney damage.
Dr Julie Lin, who co-led the research, said: "There are currently limited data on the role of diet in kidney disease."
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