By Sarah Wagner, Institute for Collaborative Education (I.C.E.)

The majority of teenagers in the US consume at least two cans of soda a day. For years soda has been linked to obesity, diabetes, and many other health problems but, people keep drinking it. Less than a month ago, a study was released linking soda to strokes and other vascular events. Over 2,500 adults, ranging in ethnicity and gender, took part in a study that began almost a decade ago. They were divided into categories based on the type and amount of soda they drank. Over the past ten years, participants in the study experienced 559 vascular events, with over 60% of them fatal.

While the facts may seem scary, there are many flaws in the study that could have skewed the results. In an average group of Americans, approximately 8-10% will suffer from vascular problems; however, the group that was studied had a vascular event rate of 22%. This increased rate of vascular irregularities in the study participants is not because they all drank soda daily -- because only 116 people (a little under 5% of the participants) belonged in the daily soda drinker category.

Many scientists speculate that the increased rate of vascular events was due to the study's lack of investigation into the participants’ medical history, and their predisposed chance of having a stroke or other vascular event. Another argument is that soda consumption is linked to other unhealthy lifestyle choices. Scientists claim that regular soda drinkers often have an unhealthy diet, as well as a lack of exercise in their daily routine. This unhealthy lifestyle is what many claim to be the cause of the vascular events.

So what does all this information mean? Should we not drink soda?

Scientists are saying that while there may not be much merit to this particular study (because no one has yet made a direct link between diet soda and vascular events) it still opens people’s eyes to the risks that soda consumption can create.  Whether soda can lead to strokes and other vascular events is still up in the air, but we know soda can cause:  chronic kidney disease, cardiorenal metabolic syndrome and obesity. Cutting down on soda may or may not save you from a stroke, but it can help prevent plenty of other health issues further down the road.

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Sarah Wagner is completing her senior year internship at TalkingScience. She attends the Institute for Collaborative Education (I.C.E.) an alternative high school in Manhattan, NY. She loves the constant change of scientific discoveries, the unknown that is continually being redefined around us.

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