Consumption of artificially sweetened beverages like diet sodas not only boosts health risks for the body but also possibly for the brain, according to a new study.

A team of researchers studied data on 2,888 people older than 45 and 1,484 people older than 60 years of age from the town of Framingham in Massachusetts. They found a significant positive correlation between sipping of artificially sweetened beverages like diet sodas and risk of brain diseases like dementia.

Matthew Pase, a senior research fellow from the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, said, “It was not surprising to see that diet soda intake was associated with stroke and dementia. I was surprised that sugary beverage intake was not associated with either the risks of stroke or dementia because sugary beverages are known to be unhealthy.”

However, some experts have cautioned that the study’s findings should be interpreted carefully as it sheds light just on an association and the researchers were not able to determine the actual cause-&-effect relationship between consumption of artificially sweetened drinks and a higher risk for stroke and dementia.

The researchers detailed the findings of their new study in the most recent edition of the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.