High consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks linked to greater risk of chronic kidney disease

A US study has found a link between the high consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and a greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). 

The research was conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland on 3,003 African-American men and women with normal kidney functions at the start of the study.

The researchers first assessed the participants' beverage intake through a questionnaire taken from 2000 to 2004, and then followed them from 2009 to 2013.

The study found that of the four "beverage patterns" observed among the participants, those who followed the "sugar-sweetened beverage pattern"—who largely drank a combination of sweetened fruit drink, soda, and water—were more likely to develop CKD.

Participants in the top tertile of this group were also 61 percent more likely to develop CKD than those in the lowest tertile.

The researchers said that the inclusion of water among the drinks was "unexpected," but theorized that the participants may have drunk other kinds of water, including flavored and sweetened varieties.

The also noted that "some studies [demonstrate] that higher water intake is associated with slower CKD progression."

Among the 3,003 participants, 185 or 6 percent developed incident CKD over a median follow-up of eight years.

Interestingly, the other beverage patterns in the study—the "alcohol beverage pattern," the "fruit and vegetable juice beverage pattern," and the "reduced-fat and artificially sweetened beverage pattern"—"were not significantly associated with incident CKD," with or without adjustments for energy intake, age, sex, BMI, education, and other factors.

According to the US National Institutes of health, CKD is a long-term disease in which the kidneys are damaged, resulting in the organs' inability to filter blood and the build-up of wastes in the body.

The study's findings were published last month in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. — BM, GMA News