Moderate drinking may ward off arthritis

[jon]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Two Scandinavian studies indicate that moderate alcohol consumption may lower the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Henrik Kallberg, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and his associates evaluated data from a study in Denmark comparing 444 people with rheumatoid arthritis to 523 similar people without arthritis (controls), and a study in Sweden involving 1204 rheumatoid arthritis cases and 871 controls.

In both studies, the average number of alcoholic drinks consumed per week was lower among the people with arthritis than the comparison subjects -- 2.9 vs 4.1 in the Swedish study, and 6.6 vs 9.0 in the Danish study -- the investigators report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The likelihood of having rheumatoid arthritis was reduced by about 40 percent to 50 percent among subjects with the highest consumption of alcohol compared to those with the lowest consumption.

In both studies, the risk reduction with alcohol consumption was more pronounced among people who had ever smoked than among never-smokers.

"The main message remains that cessation of smoking is the most effective way to diminish the risk of rheumatoid arthritis," Kallberg and his associates conclude, "but that this recommendation should not necessarily be combined with a recommendation to stop moderate alcohol consumption."

SOURCE: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, online June 5, 2008.

Link : http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USMAR58277620080605

[ZeroJointPain]

Now this is what i wanted to hear lol. It makes some sense, just don't hope people will get carried away. I am always up for 1 glass of wine.

[faith]

well i guess it will do the trick ..but its best for us to watch what we eat (avoid rich cholesterol food and those that will makes our uric acid high in rate) and an active lifestyle especially if we are geeting older..

[Heather]

I wouldn't mind trying the 'drink of wine at dinner' cure, but I quit drinking wine when my husband started going to AA. I would rather have RA than have him start drinking again!

[crimson]

It's true and I'm in that situation, you can have 1 or 2 glass of wine but exceeding this will result to inflamation and I'm one of the person who can say this.

[naturelover]

Heather wrote:

I wouldn't mind trying the 'drink of wine at dinner' cure, but I quit drinking wine when my husband started going to AA. I would rather have RA than have him start drinking again!

I completely agree with you, Heather. One should try to cure or try to alleviate the pain by other types of medicine. Because, if you are trying with our medicine you will not have chance to get addicted to that medicine. Whereas, it is not the case with wine or anything other alcoholic drinks.

So, I would prefer to ask others to check thoroughly before going to take a glass of wine. I am a teetotaller.

[danialm]

"The likelihood of having rheumatoid arthritis was reduced by about 40 percent to 50 percent among subjects with the highest consumption of alcohol compared to those with the lowest consumption."

I suspect there are other factors involved. 'Lifestyle' ???

Or, could it be due to the effects of stress reduction from that one or two drinks/day?

[crimson]

I couldn't avoid raising up this thread because of the past holiday season? Who drank too much and the flare came back again? It's a good thing that my wife doesn't drink. How about the others?

[prasanth5]

Moderate drinking in the beginning may convert one into an addict at times. So even in this case it is better to take the advice of the physician. If the doctor recommends this sort of moderate drinking then it should be okay.