Alcohol May Thwart Rheumatoid Arthritis
By: Monica Smith
Wednesday, July 28 2010
Drinking alcohol appears to be protective against the development of rheumatoid arthritis and to be associated with less severe symptoms in those who have the condition, according to research published online July 28 in Rheumatology.
(HealthDay News) — Drinking alcohol appears to be protective against the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to be associated with less severe symptoms in those who have the condition, according to research published online July 28 in Rheumatology.
James R. Maxwell, of Rotherham Hospital in the United Kingdom, and colleagues calculated risk of RA odds ratios for patients based on alcohol consumption. Frequency of drinking was self-reported on a questionnaire completed by 873 patients with RA and 1,004 healthy controls.
The researchers found that the risk of RA decreased as the rate of alcohol consumption increased, with non-drinkers being four times more likely to develop RA than people who drank alcohol more than 10 days a month. All severity measures for RA, too, decreased as frequency of drinking increased -- including damage to joints, inflammation, joint pain, swelling, and disability.
"Although there are some limitations to this study, our data suggest that alcohol consumption has an inverse and dose-related association with both risk and severity of RA," the authors write.
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