[seec]

Yes the conclusion is baffling.

As you say I believe the correlation is reverse causality. It's much more likely that people who consume stuff with "artificial" sweetener are already at risk for stroke than the other way around.

If you don't have weight/cardio problems it is weird to consume "sugar-free" stuff and associated because they are almost always worse tasting than the real deal.

To have any importance they would need a big population sample and correct for already existing risks for stroke and I believe they would find that this stuff has very little impact, if any.

But as always, it doesn't cost much to limit consumption, so why not?

[amanaplanacanal]

This doesn't apply to a study done in cell cultures.