Regular consumption of alcohol may be linked to a decreased risk for rheumatoid arthritis in some women, a new report from researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden says.
The Institute's researchers examined health records of 34,141 women born between the years of 1914 and 1948. All of the subjects had filed a surveys detailing their alcohol consumption in both 1987 and 1997.
The study concluded overall, those who reported drinking three or more glasses of alcohol a week were 52 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. All types of alcoholic drinks - beer, wine or spirits - seemed to have the same positive effects.
"There was a statistically significant 37 percent decrease in risk of rheumatoid arthritis among women who drank greater than four glasses of alcohol (one glass = 15 grams of ethanol) per week compared with women who drank less than one glass per week or who never drank alcohol," the study, published in BMJ stated.
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