Moderate drinking could help reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, researchers say today.
A team from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, explain that the link between alcohol intake and rheumatoid arthritis is controversial. So Professor Alicja Wolk and colleagues analysed figures from 34,141 Swedish women born between 1914 and 1948.
They looked at information on alcohol consumption, diet, smoking history, physical activity and education level collected in 1987 and again ten years later. The participants were then followed up for seven years. During this time, 197 cases of rheumatoid arthritis were diagnosed.
Analysis showed that the risk of rheumatoid arthritis was significantly lower for women who drank four or more glasses of alcohol a week than for those who drank less than one glass a week.
The team say that women who regularly consumed four or more alcoholic drinks a week for at least ten years had about half the risk of non-drinkers, after taking into account age, smoking and dietary habits. Full results are published on bmj.com today (July 11).
One explanation for the benefit is alcohol’s ability to lower the body’s immune response, which is relevant as rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which causes the immune system to "overreact" and attack cells lining the joints.
One standard glass of alcohol was defined as about 500ml beer, 150ml of wine or 50ml of spirits, and the beneficial effect was similar for all three types. But the researchers add that the effect of higher alcohol intake remains unknown.
Long term alcohol intake and risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women: a population based cohort study. Wolk, A. et al. The British Medical Journal July 11 2012
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