Alcohol Consumption Lowers Risk Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Alcohol consumption has been linked with a decrease in risk of
developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to an article released on
June 5, 2008 in the BMJ specialist journal Annals of the
Rheumatic Diseases.



Arthritis is a disease that involves damage to the joints of the body.
Rheumatoid arthritis is specifically a type of damage caused by
autoimmune attack resulting in inflammation of the protective
cartilage. It commonly affects multiple joints at once, and can result
in severe deformation of the joints themselves.



More than 2,750 subjects were examined in two separate studies
regarding various environmental and genetic risk factors for rheumatoid
arthritis. These included survey questions about lifestyle,
specifically, how much they smoked and drank. Separately, blood samples
were taken and examined for genetic risk factors. Nearly half of the
participants (1650 subjects) suffered from
rheumatoid arthritis, and their non-arthritic counterparts were
similarly distributed in terms of sex, age, and residential location.



Drinking alcohol was associated with a significantly lower risk of
developing rheumatoid arthritis. In face, it was found that the more
alcohol a subject consumed, the better their chances were to escape
this disease. The top one quarter of regular drinkers were 50% less
likely to develop the disease in comparison with the half of the
population drinking the least. This effect was true for both males and
females. However, it was more pronounced in subjects who already
carried risk factors for the disease. Among the other factors examined,
smoking has already been shown to increase the risk of rheumatoid
arthritis -- this was confirmed and magnified by genetic risk
factors.? 



According to the authors, this strengthens the idea that lifestyle
factors are of great importance in the development of this disease.
Other researchers have also observed this connection between alcohol
arthritis prevention. Additionally, this is similar to other studies
linking alcohol consumption to a reduced risk of other inflammatory
processes including cardiovascular disease. They note that, despite
these new results, giving up smoking is still this disease's single
most effective preventative measure.



Alcohol consumption is associated with decreased risk of
rheumatoid
arthritis: results from two Scandinavian case-control studies

H Kallberg, S Jacobsen, C Bengtsson, M Pedersen, L Padyukov, P Garred,
M Frisch, E W Karlson, L Klareskog, L Alfredsson

Online
First Ann Rheum Dis

10.1136/ard.2007.086314

Click Here For Journal



Written by Anna Sophia McKenney