Soda Linked to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

People who drink carbonated beverages may have an increased risk of cardiac arrest. Professor Keijiro Saku, Dean and professor of cardiology at Fukuoka University in Japan, and colleagues studied the relationship between the incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) and the consumption of various beverages. Data was gathered between 2005 and 2011 in the 47 prefectures of Japan, and included nearly 800,000 patients who had OHCAs of cardiac and non-cardiac origin. The study focused on the 785,591 OHCA cases that received resuscitation, of which 55.4% were of cardiac origin and 44.6% were of non-cardiac origin. Results showed that expenditures on carbonated beverages were significantly associated with OHCAs of cardiac, but not non-cardiac origin. Expenditures on other beverages, including green tea, black tea, coffee, cocoa, fruit or vegetable juice, fermented milk beverage, milk and mineral water were not significantly associated with OHCAs of cardiac origin. Professor Saku noted that the study had not found that drinking sodas causes an increased risk of cardiac arrest, merely that the more people buy sodas the more likely they are to suffer one. He concluded: "Our data on carbonated beverage consumption is based on expenditure and the association with OHCA is not causal. But the findings do indicate that limiting consumption of carbonated beverages could be beneficial for health." The researchers believe that the acid in carbonated beverages may be responsible for the association with OHCA of cardiac origin.