Senada Malik and colleagues publish in ‘American Journal of Cardiology’

A systematic review by master of public health student Senada Malik and her colleagues Aaqib Habib Malik, Yasir Akram, Suchith Shetty, and Valentine Yanchou Njike, titled “Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Blood Pressure,” was published on May 1, 2014, in the American Journal of Cardiology. It was also presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM).

Since publication, the article has since been downloaded over 600 times and is currently the 8th most downloaded article from the American Journal of Cardiology.  It has been published and mentioned in several other prestigious journals including PubMed, Science Direct, RX wiki, MD linx, Daily news, and Reuters and has been cited by other articles twice.

The systematic review thoroughly assessed 12 studies that included a total of 409,707 participants. These studies involved sugar-sweetened beverages and blood pressure.

After reviewing all of the studies, Malik and her colleagues determined that the data showed a link between increased consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and elevated blood pressure. They concluded that the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages is associated with higher blood pressure leading to an increased incidence of hypertension.

This systematic review provides evidence signifying that restrictions on the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages should be incorporated into the recommended lifestyle modifications for the treatment of hypertension. From a public health perspective, this article has significant implications, since sugar-sweetened beverages are a major part of the modern diet.

Full Citation:

Malik, Aaqib Habib, Yasir Akram, Suchith Shetty, Senada Senda Malik, and Valentine Yanchou Njike. "Impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on blood pressure." The American journal of cardiology 113, no. 9 (2014): 1574-1580.