I would not give much credence to that "study", myself. You are right,
it could be an effect of something else that is simply concurrent with
rise in soda consumption.

Somehow, Coke gives me heartburn and pepsi does not.

I read in Dr Bernstein's book that sometimes reflux is a consequence
of uncontrolled blood sugar, which causes damage to "vagus nerve".

i

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read.  There are
absolutely no correlations between the two.  Ask any health
professional.  I cannot believe you would read something like this and
believe it..  Where is the proof..?

You can't. It's an epidemiological study (also known as a longitudinal
study). In this type of research, scientists follow a population of
individuals (i.e., Doctors' Health Study, Nurses'  Health Study,
Framingham Heart Study) for trends.

Depending on how well constructed the study is, the researchers may or
may not be able to discount other factors (like environmental exposure
to chemicals, high electrical frequency, etc). These types of studies
never show cause and effect, but follow trends to see if more research
is warranted.

The evidence showing that sugar is related to the risk of developing
cancer, or the worsening of cancer is very scant, and limited to
research on animals (outside of population studies).

Glycemic modulation of tumor tolerance in a mouse model of breast
cancer. Santisteban GA, et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1985 Nov
15;132(3):1174-9.

However, these claims are not meritless. Animal studies show that
cancer tumors are sensitive to blood glucose levels, and in other
epidemiological studies sugar intake has been related to the
development of breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.

Cancer cells utilize sugar at a much faster rate than normal cells,
because cancer metabolizes through the fermentation process. Sugar is
the preferred fuel for fermentation.

For a simple explanation see:

http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/8/sugar_cancer.htm

Personally if I already HAD cancer I would try to reduce my sugar
intake to zero. And it's always a good idea to avoid sugar anyway
since a high glycemic index diet is related to a lot of illnesses.

FWIW,

Barbara Hirsch, Publisher
OBESITY MEDS AND RESEARCH NEWS
The latest in obesity research and weight loss drug development
http://www.obesity-news.com/