Alcohol may ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms

Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests.

Scientists at the University of Sheffield asked two groups of patients with and without the disease to provide details of their drinking habits.

They found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently experienced less joint pain and swelling.

Experts say this should not be taken as a green light for drinking more.

In the study, 873 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were compared to 1,004 people who did not have it.

Both groups were asked how often they had drunk alcohol in the month running up to the start of the study.

Patients completed a detailed questionnaire, had X-rays and blood tests, and a nurse examined their joints.
‘Less damage’

Alcohol may ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms

Dr James Maxwell, consultant rheumatologist and lead author of the study, explained the findings.

“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.”

The first author of the study, Dr James Maxwell, a consultant rheumatologist at the Rotherham Foundation NHS Trust and an honorary senior clinical lecturer in the Academic Rheumatology Group at the University of Sheffield, said: “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 RA has been shown in humans.”

Dr Maxwell and his colleagues also found that non-drinkers were four times more likely to develop RA than people who drank alcohol on more than ten days a month. The risk of developing RA decreased according to the frequency of alcohol consumption. “This finding agrees with the results from previous studies that have shown a decreased susceptibility to developing RA among alcohol drinkers,” said Dr Maxwell.

The researchers found that their findings applied regardless of gender and in both the anti cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) positive and negative forms of RA. “Anti-CCP antibodies are not present in most ‘normal’ people without arthritis,” explained Dr Maxwell. “We know that these antibodies develop prior to the onset of RA, and are probably directly linked to the process which causes RA. Some patients have RA without having anti-CCP antibodies, but we know that the disease is much more severe in patients who do.”