Tea associated with rheumatoid arthritis risk

18th June 2010 - Older women who drink lots of cups of tea run a higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study in the US.

Researchers at Washington’s Georgetown University Medical Centre in the US examined data from previous studies involving 76,643 American women aged between 50 and 79 to reach their conclusion that drinking any amount of tea is associated with a higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

However, they say they found no such association with coffee drinking.

Consuming any amount of tea increases the chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis by 40%, the authors say. However, women who drank more than four cups a day ran a 78% higher risk.

Professor Christopher Collins, the university’s Assistant Professor of Medicine, says in a statement that he was surprised by the findings. "We set out to determine whether tea or coffee consumption, or the method of preparation of the drinks was associated with an increased risk of RA [rheumatoid arthritis] or SLE [Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system harms the body's own healthy cells and tissues],” he says.

‘Surprising’

“It is surprising that we saw such differences in results between tea and coffee drinkers. This does make us wonder what it is in tea, or in the method of preparation of tea that causes the significant increase in risk of developing RA."

The findings are being presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Rome.

Professor Paul Emery, President of EULAR and arc Professor of Rheumatology at Leeds University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, says more research is needed on the topic. Emery says tea drinkers shouldn’t stop consuming their favourite beverage, adding that “patients with rheumatic diseases [should] consult their physician before making any significant changes to their diet or caffeine intake”.

Neil Betteridge, Vice President of EULAR and Chief Executive of Arthritis Care, says in an emailed statement: “This is interesting work, but association is not the same as cause and effect.

“It is important to remember that this is a US study, so the link between this type of beverage and the risk of RA will compare differently over here, where the majority of Brits drink tea. We look forward to seeing how this research develops in the future to better our understanding of arthritis, a debilitating condition which affects around 10 million people in the UK.”