Many conditions, like coronary disease and diabetes, have been shown to be at a lower rate in people who drink a moderate amount of alcohol. More recently, we published a post saying that moderate alcohol drinking in women can aid weight-loss and the prevention of weight gain, compared to no alcohol consumption. Now, a new observational study from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands demonstrated that alcohol consumption not only reduces the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis but also osteoarthritis and other joint conditions.
In the study, they distributed a survey of drinking habits to people who were newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and other joint diseases, as well as a similar group of healthy (non arthritic) people. The comparison revealed that significantly more people in the controlled group consumed alcohol. The results of the study suggest that this phenomenon is linked to the anti-inflammatory mechanism that alcohol might demonstrate, which possibly protects from the progression of arthritis. The authors considered the findings interesting and in need of further investigation, and cautioned against the risks of excessive drinking. However, another possibility of the alcohol effect is that people may have stopped drinking as they developed joint pain. From personal experience, I can attest that many patients who suffer from diabetes also suffer from arthritis and usually, are not drinkers. Arthritis tends to be a disease of overweight people and, again, from experience, often obese people shy away from alcohol.
Via medpagetoday.com
Photo courtesy of david.kittos
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