Diet Coke

[Brent Stone]

This may seem like a weird post, but I wonder if anyone has ever tried to ascertain whether or not consumption of Aspartame has any connection with Keratoconus?

I drink an excessive amount of Diet Coke and for some reason, my semi-neurotic mother (although, we all still love her) thinks that my Keratoconus has something to do with this consumption.

Initially, I thought that this was totally preposterous, but as I did a little research as to the affects of Aspartame, I came up with some interesting results...

http://presidiotex.com/aspartame/Facts/ ... blems.html

There are a lot of web pages like this that mention the effects of Aspartame effecting vision.

Would someone please tell me that I am crazy at this point....

[sajeev nadarajan]

Hi Brent,
If you crazy I must be as well, as I switched to Aspartame (in stead of suger) just before I got KC. Good work Brent, to err on the side of caution I think I will stop using it.

[Rob Armstrong]

Its true, nobody knows the effects of all the junk that manufacturer's put in processed food these days, and several people on here have said in the past that they have noticed improvements having changed their diets. But I'm pretty sure KC has been around much longer than all these artificial additives, in fact there's people on here who pre-date Diet Coke!

I was never a massive drinker of Cola as a kid, and it was always the proper stuff! KC still got me.

Personally, I still think the genetic possibility is more likely. I recently found out that my Great Uncle might have suffered from severe KC. Having heard how he had to live life, it makes me realise how lucky I am to have received the medical care that I have.

Rob.

[Philip N]

I know from personal experience the affect that Aspartame (and other artificial sweeteners) has on my eyes. I have had KC for nearly 20 years now and worn various contact lens for nearly 15. Like most people I suffer from a number of side effects most notably dry eyes and general corneal sensitivity/lens intolerance.

I know for a fact that if I drink about 1L or more of any "Diet" drink the following day my eyes will be worse than normal. (dry, sore and red)

Generally I feel these artificial sweeteners are bad and I don't care what the "Industry" say. I have a friend who suffers an almost immediate and violent reaction to sweeteners. About 20mins after consumption he starts suffering from a migraine that is so severe he can't do anything except retire to bed.
My feeling is people's bodies tolerate this poison in various levels in various ways.

This is fundamentally a commercial, confidence problem. The FDA can't turn around and say to the world "Oh, The flagship symbol of America is killing you all" (aka: Coke and Pepsi) I will be unsurprised to see massive future lawsuits along the lines of the tobacco ones..

Regards,

Philip.

[Anna Mason]

I had KC before I ever drank anything other than Tea and lemonade we couldnt afford flash drinks when I was a kid.
I will admit though I know for a fact that somedays my diet will kill my eyes the next day.

[J Owen]

In my case i would say that there is no link to aspartame and KC. During my childhood my diet was vegetarian and almost organic. Fizzy drinks were only consumed at birthdays, and coke wasnt one of them.

My grandmother has KC, so i guees there is a genetic link.

Its the caffeine in Coke that will be effecting the eyes. Caffeine is a dieretic.

[Andrew MacLean]

I have found this exchange profoundly interesting, although I gue4ss that the culprit (if culprit it be) is the aspartame rather than the Coke. Like at least one other contributor I had already been diagnosed with KC before I ever tasted any diet soda, and although I drink very little soda pop even today, i also know that some days my diet will knowck my vision for six the following day.

The question at least merits some research!

Andrew

[Andrew MacLean]

An over enthusiastic adoption of the "genetics theory" is not without its problems ... It may lead to the children or other relatives of KC sufferers finding it hard to obtain various sorts of insurance (including Mortgage Protection).

It is also far from substantiated. If there were a genetic cause then the epidemiology would show a far higher occurrence of KC amongst the near relatives of people who are known to have the condition. All the epidemiology I have seen shows an occurrence amongst relatives of known KC sufferers that is no higher than in the general population..

Of course there is more work to be done. KC had not been long described and it may well be that future epidemiology will show the kind of correlation that is often mooted on this site. it is not time to dismiss environmental factors, such as diet as well as infection, at the moment the truth is nobody knows.

Andrew