Study Sheds Light on Links Between Sweetened Drinks and Dementia

Older adults who consumed sugar-sweetened or artificially-sweetened drinks were no more likely to develop dementia than others, an analysis of six prospective U.S. cohorts showed.

Over a mean follow-up of 10.7 years, the pooled HR per serving per week for sugar-sweetened beverages was 0.99 (P=0.18), according to Changzheng Yuan, ScD, of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China, and co-authors. For artificially-sweetened beverages, the HR was 1.00 (P=0.99).

Pooled HRs comparing the highest consumption group (1 or more servings a day) with the lowest (less than 1 serving a month) were 0.90 (95% CI 0.78-1.03) for sugar-sweetened drinks and 1.00 (95% CI 0.84-1.21) for artificially-sweetened ones, the researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry.

“In this study, late-life consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or artificially-sweetened beverages was not associated with the risk of dementia,” Yuan and colleagues wrote. “However, given their detrimental effects on metabolic health and related chronic diseases during early life and midlife, the effects of early-life consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially-sweetened beverages on the risk of dementia warrant further investigation.”

Findings were similar across cohorts and subgroups, they noted. “In contrast, an inverse association was observed for the Mediterranean diet score (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.99 per 5-unit increment) as a positive control,” they pointed out.

Population-based evidence about sweetened beverages and dementia risk is inconclusive, the researchers observed. In a U.K. Biobank study of adults in their 50s, higher intakes of sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened beverages were associated with elevated dementia risk. A Framingham Offspring Study assessment of people in their early 60s showed that sugar-sweetened beverages were not tied to dementia risk, but artificially-sweetened soft drinks were.

Yuan and co-authors focused on an older population, studying 10,974 older adults with a mean age of 73.2 years in their pooled analysis. Most (60%) were women.

The researchers harmonized individual-level data of people from six prospective studies: the Health and Retirement Study, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, Chicago Healthy and Aging Project (CHAP), Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), Framingham Heart Study original cohort, and Framingham Offspring Study cohort.

The outcome of the study was all-cause dementia ascertained at least 2 years after baseline, based on results from active follow-ups and passive data collection. Sweetened beverage intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaires. Baseline was defined as the date the most recent food frequency questionnaire was completed.

Sugar-sweetened beverages included sugary fruit beverages, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and carbonated drinks. Artificially-sweetened beverages included low-calorie and diet drinks.

Median intake of sugar-sweetened drinks ranged from 0 servings per week in MAP to 1.25 in ARIC. Weekly artificially-sweetened beverage servings ranged from a median of 0 in CHAP and MAP to 1.00 in ARIC.

Over 116,067 person-years of follow-up, 2,445 people developed all-cause dementia. Relationships between sweetened beverage intake and dementia risk were consistent in multiple models with different sets of covariates, with minimal heterogeneity across studies, Yuan and colleagues said.

The findings should be interpreted with caution, they noted. The study population was older and many people who survived to baseline may have been healthier than others. The prevalence of daily sweetened beverage consumption was relatively low (about 10%) in this study. Unmeasured confounders also may have influenced results.

CDC guidelines suggest that intake of added sugars should be limited to less than 10% of total daily calories and recommend choosing water over sugary drinks.

“Given the association between sweetened beverages and other diseases, especially metabolic diseases, our study does not challenge the existing dietary guidelines for the older population with respect to sugar-sweetened beverages or artificially-sweetened beverages,” Yuan and colleagues stated.

“Recognizing the adverse effects of sweetened beverages in several chronic diseases, especially cardiometabolic diseases in midlife, the role of early-life consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially-sweetened beverages in the risk of dementia remains to be investigated,” they continued. “In addition, there are many other sources of sugar (such as sweets and flavored yogurts), so the potential harm of excessive sugar intake should still be monitored.”

MedPage Today. She writes about brain aging, Alzheimeru2019s disease, dementia, MS, rare diseases, epilepsy, autism, headache, stroke, Parkinsonu2019s disease, ALS, concussion, CTE, sleep, pain, and more. Judy started her career with the Congressional watchdog agency GAO and has been a magazine reporter, academic text editor, and radio producer. She holds a BA in English from University of Detroit, MBA from Xavier University, and attended Columbia Radcliffe Publishing Course. Besides writing about neurology, sheu2019s reported on topics ranging from mental health to environmental contamination. Her work has been published in outlets as diverse as Business Week, Conde Nast’s Self, and AlterNet.”,”affiliation”:””,”credential”:””,”url_identifier”:”jg8109″,”avatar_url”:””,”avatar_alt_text”:”Judy George”,”twitter”:”https://twitter.com/MedPageNeuro”,”byline”:”Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today”,”full_name”:”Judy George”,”title”:”Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today, “,”url”:”https://www.medpagetoday.com/people/jg8109/judy-george”}]”>