Moderate drinking lowers RA risk in women

[Guest guest]

Docs:

I'll drink to that!

Lyndon McGill, D.C.

EvolvHealth Wellness Advisory Council Member

Salem, Oregon

www.SalemSpineClinic.com

www.EvolvingDaily.com

Moderate Drinking Linked to Lower RA Risk in Women

Janis C.

July 13, 2012 — Drinking 3 glasses of alcohol weekly is

associated with a decreased risk of developing rheumatoid

arthritis (RA), perhaps because of the downregulation of

proinflammatory mediators, a Di Giuseppe, a PhD student from

the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of

Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden,

and colleagues report in an article published online July 10 in the British

Medical Journal.

Di Giuseppe cautioned that the data should not be

overgeneralized. In an interview with Medscape Medical News,

she said, "It is important to underline that more than 3 glasses

per week corresponds in median to 4 to 5 glasses per week. Higher

amounts of drinking can't be evaluated in our study since Swedish

women drink relatively little alcohol [only 1.4% of women in the

cohort drank more than 2 glasses of alcohol per day]."

The researchers identified 197 new cases of RA during 7 years of

follow-up of 34,141 Swedish women born between 1914 and 1948.

Detailed information about alcohol consumption, diet, smoking

history, physical activity, and education level was collected in

1987 and again in 1997. Participants were followed-up from January

2003 to December 2009, when they were between 54 and 89 years of

age.

After adjusting for factors such as age, smoking, and dietary

habits, researchers found that women who reported drinking more

than 3 glasses of alcohol per week in both 1987 and 1997 had a 52%

reduced risk for RA compared with never-drinkers at both

assessments. One standard glass of alcohol was defined as

approximately 500 mL of beer, 150 mL of wine, or 50 mL of liquor.

The reduced risk was similar for all 3 types of alcoholic drink.

Di Giuseppe said, "Our results were in line with results from

previous case-control studies on the topic and in line with the

inverse association between moderate alcohol consumption and

cardiovascular diseases. It would be of great interest to evaluate

the effect of higher doses of alcohol consumption on the risk of

RA, but we didn't have enough heavy drinkers in our study to

determine whether a high alcohol intake is beneficial or

detrimental for RA."

According to the authors, their conclusions, based on prospective

data, are in agreement with results from case-control studies but not with findings

of 2 previous prospective cohort studies, which found no

association between alcohol intake and RA.

Di Giuseppe suggested that controlling for smoking might explain

the difference between the current study and 1 of the previous

prospective cohort studies. The other cohort study adjusted for

smoking but had a limited number of cases. According to Di

Giuseppe, smoking is a risk factor for RA and is highly correlated

with drinking.

Ted Mikuls, MD, associate professor of internal medicine in the

Division of Rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical

Center, Omaha, reviewed the study for Medscape Medical News.

Dr. Mikuls said, "The study appears to be very well done. Their

findings are certainly consistent with others who have also

reported a 'protective effect' of alcohol consumption in terms of

RA risk. There has also been at least 1 study that has suggested

that moderate levels of alcohol intake may protect against disease

progression [measured via radiographic damage in joints] for those

who have RA."

Dr. Mikuls added, "A measure of caution here is probably

warranted since higher levels of intake have been reported to have

a paradoxical or proinflammatory effect in RA. In other words,

more excessive levels of intake may have adverse effects in terms

of disease risk and progression. The 'take-home' here is therefore

quite tricky. Obviously, any potential benefit of moderate alcohol

intake must be weighed very carefully against the risks [both

health-related and societal] of regular alcohol intake. Alcohol

intake may be very problematic for patients with established

disease as well, particularly given the fact that alcohol use may

enhance toxicity to commonly used disease-modifying agents in RA;

namely, methotrexate."

Di Giuseppe had an additional warning: "Long-term moderate

consumption of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing RA.

However, it is known that alcohol is related to a higher risk of

breast cancer for women. You can't forget that connection.

Recommendations regarding cancer prevention say that it should be

a maximum of 1 glass a day, in line with our conclusion on RA."

The study was supported by research grants from the Swedish

Research Council’s Committee for Research Infrastructure for

maintenance of the Swedish Mammography Cohort, and from the

Karolinska Institute’s Award for PhD students. The authors and

Dr. Mikuls have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

BMJ. Published online July 10, 2012. Full text

Medscape Medical News © 2012 WebMD, LLC

[Guest guest]

changing freom animal milks to plant milks takes away the pain when the RA occurs! skSunny Kierstyn, RN DC Fibromyalgia Care Center of Oregon 2677 Willakenzie Road, 7CEugene, Oregon, 97401541- 654-0850; Fx; 541- 654-0834www.drsunnykierstyn.com To: oregondcs From: twogems@...Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:49:01 -0700Subject: Moderate drinking lowers RA risk in women

Docs:

I'll drink to that!

Lyndon McGill, D.C.

EvolvHealth Wellness Advisory Council Member

Salem, Oregon

www.SalemSpineClinic.com

www.EvolvingDaily.com

Moderate Drinking Linked to Lower RA Risk in Women

Janis C.

July 13, 2012 — Drinking 3 glasses of alcohol weekly is

associated with a decreased risk of developing rheumatoid

arthritis (RA), perhaps because of the downregulation of

proinflammatory mediators, a Di Giuseppe, a PhD student from

the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of

Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden,

and colleagues report in an article published online July 10 in the British

Medical Journal.

Di Giuseppe cautioned that the data should not be

overgeneralized. In an interview with Medscape Medical News,

she said, "It is important to underline that more than 3 glasses

per week corresponds in median to 4 to 5 glasses per week. Higher

amounts of drinking can't be evaluated in our study since Swedish

women drink relatively little alcohol [only 1.4% of women in the

cohort drank more than 2 glasses of alcohol per day]."

The researchers identified 197 new cases of RA during 7 years of

follow-up of 34,141 Swedish women born between 1914 and 1948.

Detailed information about alcohol consumption, diet, smoking

history, physical activity, and education level was collected in

1987 and again in 1997. Participants were followed-up from January

2003 to December 2009, when they were between 54 and 89 years of

age.

After adjusting for factors such as age, smoking, and dietary

habits, researchers found that women who reported drinking more

than 3 glasses of alcohol per week in both 1987 and 1997 had a 52%

reduced risk for RA compared with never-drinkers at both

assessments. One standard glass of alcohol was defined as

approximately 500 mL of beer, 150 mL of wine, or 50 mL of liquor.

The reduced risk was similar for all 3 types of alcoholic drink.

Di Giuseppe said, "Our results were in line with results from

previous case-control studies on the topic and in line with the

inverse association between moderate alcohol consumption and

cardiovascular diseases. It would be of great interest to evaluate

the effect of higher doses of alcohol consumption on the risk of

RA, but we didn't have enough heavy drinkers in our study to

determine whether a high alcohol intake is beneficial or

detrimental for RA."

According to the authors, their conclusions, based on prospective

data, are in agreement with results from case-control studies but not with findings

of 2 previous prospective cohort studies, which found no

association between alcohol intake and RA.

Di Giuseppe suggested that controlling for smoking might explain

the difference between the current study and 1 of the previous

prospective cohort studies. The other cohort study adjusted for

smoking but had a limited number of cases. According to Di

Giuseppe, smoking is a risk factor for RA and is highly correlated

with drinking.

Ted Mikuls, MD, associate professor of internal medicine in the

Division of Rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical

Center, Omaha, reviewed the study for Medscape Medical News.

Dr. Mikuls said, "The study appears to be very well done. Their

findings are certainly consistent with others who have also

reported a 'protective effect' of alcohol consumption in terms of

RA risk. There has also been at least 1 study that has suggested

that moderate levels of alcohol intake may protect against disease

progression [measured via radiographic damage in joints] for those

who have RA."

Dr. Mikuls added, "A measure of caution here is probably

warranted since higher levels of intake have been reported to have

a paradoxical or proinflammatory effect in RA. In other words,

more excessive levels of intake may have adverse effects in terms

of disease risk and progression. The 'take-home' here is therefore

quite tricky. Obviously, any potential benefit of moderate alcohol

intake must be weighed very carefully against the risks [both

health-related and societal] of regular alcohol intake. Alcohol

intake may be very problematic for patients with established

disease as well, particularly given the fact that alcohol use may

enhance toxicity to commonly used disease-modifying agents in RA;

namely, methotrexate."

Di Giuseppe had an additional warning: "Long-term moderate

consumption of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing RA.

However, it is known that alcohol is related to a higher risk of

breast cancer for women. You can't forget that connection.

Recommendations regarding cancer prevention say that it should be

a maximum of 1 glass a day, in line with our conclusion on RA."

The study was supported by research grants from the Swedish

Research Council’s Committee for Research Infrastructure for

maintenance of the Swedish Mammography Cohort, and from the

Karolinska Institute’s Award for PhD students. The authors and

Dr. Mikuls have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

BMJ. Published online July 10, 2012. Full text

Medscape Medical News © 2012 WebMD, LLC