A new study suggests that drinking diet drinks were associated with an increased risk of having a stroke among post-menopausal women. The stroke is was caused by a blocked artery, especially small arteries. The study, published in the journal Stroke, showed that compared with women who consumed diet drinks less than once a week or not at all, women who consumed two or more artificially sweetened beverages per day were 23 percent more likely to have a stroke, 31 percent more likely to have ischemic stroke, and 29 percent were at risk of developing heart disease. Furthermore, stroke risks more than doubled in women without previous heart disease or diabetes and obese women without previous heart disease or diabetes, findings revealed. Many well-meaning people, especially those who are overweight or obese, drink low-calorie sweetened drinks to cut calories in their diet. The research and other observational studies have shown that artificially-sweetened beverages may not be harmless and high consumption is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease," said researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the US.