ANDERSON, Ind. — A new study claims to have found a connection between drinking diet soda and being at higher risk of developing dementia and stroke.

However, the study’s author is calling for more research to be done.

The study found an association between drinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily and having an increased risk of stroke or dementia by three times the risk of someone who drinks diet soda less than once a week.

The researchers who conducted the study analyzed the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort. The 2,888 people in the group for the stroke study were primarily Caucasian, over the age of 45. The 1,484 people in the dementia study were over the age of 60.

The authors quickly cautioned in the American Heart Association press release that the research only shows a trend among one group of people rather than an actual cause and effect.

The people who participated in the study had researchers check in with their drinking habits periodically over a seven-year period, according to the press release. The researchers then followed up 10 years later to see who developed the targeted diseases.

At the end of the 10-year period, 3 percent of the people had had a stroke and 5 percent had been diagnosed with dementia.

Matthew Pase, a senior fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and the Framingham Heart Study, said more research needs to be done to confirm the findings since the sampling of people were primarily white and older. He also said they did not track how much regular soda the participants were drinking as well.

“Even if someone is three times as likely to develop stroke or dementia, it is by no means a certain fate,” Pase said in a press release. “In our study, 3 percent of the people had a new stroke and 5 percent developed dementia, so we’re still talking about a small number of people developing either stroke or dementia.”

However, the study is one of many that point to artificially sweetened sodas, or diet soda, as not being a healthy option and even causing additional health issues of its own.

Studies since 2010 have showed various health concerns that could be linked to drinking diet soda, such as increased risks of Type 2 diabetes, heart attack and a slower metabolism. Diet sodas may have fewer calories, but some of the artificial sweeteners have been questioned.

Aspartame is one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners, and it’s about 200 times sweeter than sugar, meaning much less of it needs to be used. Rumors and unscientific studies have claimed for years that the sweetener causes cancer, but the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies have found it to be safe, according to the American Cancer Society.

Marianne Spangler, patient navigation services director and dietitian at Community Hospital Anderson, said in 2016 that dietitians generally follow the guidelines of the FDA. She said while the FDA has said diet soda is safe, she encourages her patients to drink more water anyway.

Michelle Richart, registered dietitian at St. Vincent Anderson Regional Hospital, said she encourages her patients to drink less diet soda because it cuts down how much water they are drinking. If they are drinking enough water, a little diet soda is fine, she said in 2016.

What authors of the study published in the American Heart Association’s journal “Stroke” are really trying to iterate is that while more research needs to be done, diet sodas may not be better for people than their sugary counterparts, said senior editorial author Ralph Sacco, a former president of the American Heart Association and the chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami in Florida.

“Both sugar and artificially sweetened soft drinks may be hard on the brain,” Sacco said in a press release.

Filchak writes for the Anderson, Indiana Herald Bulletin.