Carbonated beverages may be associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin, according to results from the All-Japan Utstein Registry presented Sept. 1 during ESC Congress 2015 in London. The study of nearly 800,000 patients suggests that limiting consumption of carbonated beverages may provide health benefits.

The study compared the age-adjusted incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests to the per-person consumption of various beverages between 2005 and 2011 in the 47 prefectures of Japan. Analysis focused on the 785,591 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases that received resuscitation, of which 55.4 percent were of cardiac origin, and 44.6 percent were of non-cardiac origin, including cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, malignant tumour and exogenous disease. Data on the per-person consumption of various beverages was obtained from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, using expenditure on beverages as a proxy measure.

Overall results found that expenditures on carbonated beverages were significantly associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin (r=0.30, p=0.04), but not non-cardiac origin (r=-0.03, p=0.8). In contrast, expenditures on other beverages like green tea, black tea, coffee, cocoa, fruit or vegetable juice, fermented milk beverage, milk and mineral water were not significantly associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin.

"Carbonated beverage consumption was significantly and positively associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin in Japan, indicating that beverage habits may have an impact on fatal cardiovascular disease," said Keijiro Saku, MD, PhD, FACC, dean and professor of cardiology at Fukuoka University in Japan. "The acid in carbonated beverages might play an important role in this association."

Keywords: ESC Congress, Carbonated Beverages, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Heart, Japan, Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest, Registries, Beverages

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