A study conducted in Stockholm shows that five glasses of wine a week really go a long way

Jun 5, 2008 09:05 GMT  ·  By
Five glasses of wine a week cut the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in half
   Five glasses of wine a week cut the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in half

The question of whether or not wine consumption is good for our health has been the subject of long and heated debates. There are those who argue that the amount and "miraculous" properties of the beneficial substances found in the millennia-old elixir outweigh the risks of regular alcohol consumption. And there are some who argue that long before healing your arthritis or keeping your heart healthy, hearty wine consumption will just make you a drunk.

The amazing progress of medical science, along with its increasingly spectacular and accurate potential for thorough research and documentation, mean that we can finally make some sense of the old folklore. Research has already proved that red wine contains resveratrol, a compound which is believed to prevent the apparition of genetic changes that lead to the aging of the heart muscle. And now, another study comes to add rheumatoid arthritis to the list of conditions that are said to be prevented by drinking five or more glasses of wine every week.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a degenerative inflammatory condition in which the body's own immune system starts attacking the joint tissue, causing swelling and increasing disabilities. The research, conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, claims that people who consumed more than five units (that is, glasses) of wine a week were up to 50 per cent less likely to develop this crippling disease. Researchers made it clear however that this applies only to people who are in the early stages of the disease and that those who are already suffering from more advanced forms should definitely not take up drinking as a solution.

The exact mechanism of this process is not fully known, although it is believed that alcohol suppresses the immune system which is responsible for triggering the disease in the first place, and thus stops the inflammatory process in its tracks. However, arthritis specialists are quick to point out that such a "prevention strategy" could easily lead to alcoholism. "Drinking too much is very bad for our health in many ways - and these risks far outweigh any potential benefit for reducing the risk of rheumatoid arthritis", one British expert said.