Warning as fizzy drinks ‘increase risk of life-threatening disease’, study claims
FIZZY drinks may increase the risk of liver cancer and disease in women, a study says.
US research tracking a group of 98,786 American women aged 50-79 found a link between drinking sugar-sweetened drinks and liver issues.
Postmenopausal women who consumed one or more of the sugary treats a day had higher rates of liver cancer and higher rates of death due to chronic liver disease.
But the study, in JAMA journal, admitted proof of the link between diet and liver health is “limited”.
The authors said: “Results reported in this study demonstrated a statistically significant association of greater sugar-sweetened beverage intake and increased risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality.
“There were no statistically significant associations of artificially sweetened beverage intake with liver cancer or chronic liver disease mortality.
“To our knowledge, only two prior studies evaluated the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer.
“Chronic liver disease was the fourth leading cause of death for women aged 45 to 54 years and the fifth leading cause of death for men aged 45 to 64 years in 2019 in the US.
“However, evidence for the associations between diet and chronic liver disease mortality is limited.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to report a positive association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and chronic liver disease mortality.”