Let's hit the arthritis with alcoholism!

Pyotr Smirnov, "Newspaper.Ru»Regular alcohol consumption reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis by 50%.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute, which annually selects the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, conducted 2 large-scale studies among 2,750 men and women.

The aim of the work, the results of which are published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, was the central task of clinical genetics over the past 100 years – to find out the specific contribution of congenital (genetic) factors and the environment to the development of the disease – in this case rheumatoid arthritis.

All volunteers, most of whom suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, collected not only personal data (gender, age, place of residence), but also lifestyle details, including bad habits. In addition, small blood samples were taken from them to search for genetic markers of joint disease.

As a result, scientists found that alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing the disease and the more respondents indulged in red and white, the less the risk of "catching" this autoimmune inflammation of the joints became.

It is not surprising that alcohol was associated with a known risk factor – smoking, which significantly increases the likelihood of getting sick, especially with a genetically determined predisposition. Regular breast-feeding turned out to be even more effective for "doomed smokers" than for other people.

The researchers noted that the effect is equally evident in both men and women. The mechanism of development of the effect remains unclear, although researchers have drawn an analogy with inflammatory diseases of the cardiovascular system, the risk of which is also lower in drinkers.

Oddly enough, scientists did not recommend drinking as a way of prevention, limiting themselves to proving the harm of smoking.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru06.06.2008