The new research, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was based on a study into African-American men and women in the U.S. At the start of the study the participants (numbering around 3,000) had with normal kidney function. The study population was divided, for the purposes of analysis, into different groups based on whether the participants tended to drink soda, sweetened fruit drinks, or water. The research showed there was a link between sugar drinks and the chance of developing chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease is a long-term condition where the kidneys do not work effectively. The disease is also associated with high blood pressure, diabetes or diseases that affect the blood vessels.
Commenting on the research, lead scientist Dr. Casey Rebholz told Medical Xpress why the study was important: “”There is a lack of comprehensive information on the health implications of the wide range of beverage options that are available in the food supply.”
She adds: “n particular, there is limited information on which types of beverages and patterns of beverages are associated with kidney disease risk in particular.”
The data for the study was drawn from the period 2000 to 2004, when the participants were recruited, and then from 2009 to 2013, when follow-up questionnaires were used. The analysis showed participants who regularly consumed sugar drinks were 61 percent more likely to develop chronic kidney disease compared with those who did not regularly consume such beverages.
The research findings have been published in the journal Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The research paper is titled “Patterns of Beverages Consumed and Risk of Incident Kidney Disease.”
