Comments from Website author: These authors also
directly state the well known relationship between oxidative damage (that damage done by
oxygen free radicals), and rheumatoid arthritis. On the strength of this, it is my belief
that a strong anti-oxidant, such as Pycnogenol would mediate this damage
(by its free radical scavenging properties) and perhaps allow the condition to reverse
itself.
Comments from Physicians at this article's end: None
Serum antioxidants and risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
Ann Rheum Dis Vol. 53 no. 1 pp. 51-3
Medline®
DATE: 1994 Jan
OBJECTIVES--Oxygen free radicals have been implicated as mediators of tissue damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thus it is possible that several micronutrients acting as antioxidants and free radical scavengers provide protection against RA. Serum alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and selenium were studied for their associations with the risk of RA. METHODS--A case control study was nested within a Finnish cohort of 1419 adult men and women. During a median follow up of 20 years, 14 individuals initially free of arthritis developed RA. Two controls per each incident case were individually matched for sex, age, and municipality. Serum alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and selenium concentrations were measured from stored serum samples. An antioxidant index was calculated as the product of the molar concentrations of these three micronutrients. RESULTS--Elevated risks of RA were observed at low levels of alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and selenium, but none of the associations were statistically significant. A significant association, however, was observed with a low antioxidant index (p for trend = 0.03), the relative risk of RA between the lowest tertile and the higher tertiles of its distribution being 8.3 (95% confidence interval 1.0-71.0). CONCLUSIONS--The results of the present study are in line with the hypothesis thata low antioxidant level is a risk factor for RA.
Heliövaara M Knekt P Aho K Aaran RK Alfthan G Aromaa A
Primary Author's Address: Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland.
Language: Eng
Country: ENGLAND
MeSH Headings: Adult Antioxidants/*analysis Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*blood Carotene/*blood Case-Control Studies Comparative Study Female Follow-Up Studies Human Male Risk Factors Selenium/*blood Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Vitamin E/*blood
Medlars UID 94145187