22 Jul Regular Soda Linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Yang Hu
From the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Answer: We find regular (≥ 1 serving/day) consumption of sugar-sweetened soda, but not diet soda, is associated with increased risk of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in women, independent of other dietary and lifestyle factor.

MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Answer: One unexpected finding might be that we did not observe a significant association between fruit punch and risk of rheumatoid arthritis, although the majority of the fruit punch consists of high-fructose corn syrup.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Answer: It would be helpful for clinicians to advise patients who have early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis or family history of rheumatoid arthritis to limit their consumption of sugar-sweetened soda. Instead, diet soda, plain water and skim milk could be good alternatives.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Answer: As an observation study, we are unable to confirm the causal relationship between sugar-sweetened soda and risk of rheumatoid arthritis. More large cohort studies with long follow up period are required to replicate our findings and reveal the potential biological mechanism.

Citation:

Sugar-sweetened soda consumption and risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in women
Yang Hu, Karen H Costenbader, Xiang Gao, May Al-Daabil, Jeffrey A Sparks, Daniel H Solomon, Frank B Hu, Elizabeth W Karlson, and Bing Lu
Am J Clin Nutr 2014 ajcn.086918; First published online July 16, 2014. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.086918

Last Updated on July 23, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD