Individuals, who consume sugar-sweetened soft drinks, are prone to get afflicted with fatal diseases like diabetes and heart diseases, according to a recent study.

Such soft, sport and fruit beverages, excluding 100 per cent fruit juice, include about 120 to 200 calories per drink and are highly responsible for gaining weight, shared the researchers at the University of California.

The decade 1990 to 2000, has witnessed an increase in the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, according to the estimates presented at the American Heart Association's annual conference. This gave birth to almost 1, 30,
000 new cases of diabetes and 14,000 new cases of coronary heart disease in the U. S. in the last ten years.

Lead author Litsa Lambrakos said, "We can demonstrate an association between daily consumption of sugared beverages and diabetes risk and translate this information into estimates of the current diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that can be attributed to the rise in consumption of these drinks. We want to make the general public more aware of the adverse health outcomes of consuming these drinks over time and help support disease prevention and curb consumption of these drinks".