More About Stroke and Dementia…Link to Artificial Sweeteners
It’s commonly assumed that both sugar–sweetened and artificially-sweetened soft drinks have been linked to cardiometabolic risk factors, which increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease and dementia.
But results from the well-known Framingham Heart Study Offspring indicate otherwise.
Researchers studied 2,888 participants over 45 years old for incidents of stroke, and 1484 participants over 60 years old for incidents of dementia. Adjustments were made for age, sex, education (for analysis of dementia), caloric intake, diet quality, physical activity, and smoking.

A-Fib, Stroke Risk and Dementia
Risks of Ischemic Stroke, All-Cause Dementia
Researchers found that higher recent-intake and higher cumulative-intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks “were associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, all-cause dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease dementia.”
But results were not the same for sugar! Sugar-sweetened beverages were not associated with a higher risk of stroke and dementia.
What Patients Need To Know
The bad news: For those of us worried about an A-Fib stroke and dementia, we need to avoid artificially-sweetened beverages.
The (somewhat) good news: The same warning doesn’t seem to apply to sugar-sweetened beverages. (This doesn’t necessarily mean that sugary drinks are healthy or good for you.)
For more about Dementia: see A-Fib and Dementia: My Top 5 Articles.