Alcohol drinkers may be spared some of the symptoms of arthritis, researchers report today.
Although the finding may be surprising, it may simply reflect the ability of alcohol to dull pain.
Or it may mean that alcohol can help combat the swelling that causes the disease.
The British study also backs up earlier findings that alcohol may help prevent the development of rheumatoid arthritis in the first place.
A team led by Dr James Maxwell of Sheffield University, UK, asked 873 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 1,004 similar healthy individuals about their alcohol intake in the previous month.
Results showed that the risk of rheumatoid arthritis was four times higher among non-drinkers than those who drank on more than ten days of every month. All measures of arthritis severity, such as Disease Activity Score, pain, and functional disability on the modified Health Assessment Questionnaire were lower among those who drank.
Taking into account age, gender, smoking, and several other relevant factors, "frequency of alcohol consumption remained significantly and inversely associated with X-ray damage and functional disability", say the team in the journal Rheumatology.
Dr Maxwell says: "We found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently had symptoms that were less severe than those who had never drunk alcohol or only drunk it infrequently.
"X-rays showed there was less damage to joints, blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation, and there was less joint pain, swelling and disability. This is the first time that a dose dependent inverse association between frequency of alcohol consumption and severity of rheumatoid arthritis has been shown in humans."
It may be that alcohol reduces arthritis symptoms and risk by suppressing the immune system, or through its analgesic effects. But the authors point out that the study was limited, as it only measured alcohol intake over a short period of time.
Maxwell, R. R. et al. Alcohol consumption is inversely associated with risk and severity of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology, published online July 28, 2010.
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