Abstract
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease. This study evaluates the effect of blue mussel intake on disease activity and quality of life in women with RA. Thirty-nine women with established RA and a disease activity score 28 (DAS28) >3.0 were recruited to a randomized 2 × 11-week cross-over dietary intervention. The participants continued with their medication and habitual diet and exchanged one cooked meal a day, five days a week, with a meal including 75 g blue mussels or 75 g meat. Diets were switched after an eight week washout period. Data regarding quality of life (SF-36), blood lipids, erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and tender and swollen joints were examined at the start and end of each dietary period. Thirty women completed one period, and twenty-three completed both. Intake of the blue mussel diet led to a significant reduction of DAS28-CRP (p = 0.048), but not DAS28. The number of EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) criteria moderate and good responders were higher when consuming blue mussel diet (p = 0.036). Blood lipids did not change. To conclude, blue mussel intake reduced disease symptoms in women with RA and improved perceived health. The reported effects need to be confirmed by non-patient reported outcomes, such as inflammation markers.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1].Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aims at long-term remission, i.e., absence of: joint tenderness, swelling and destruction, pain and functional impairment
No significant difference was obtained between measures in disease activity score 28 (DAS28) at the end of the two diet periods, respectively (p = 0.200; Table 4), DAS28 decreased significantly during the blue mussel period (p = 0.017)
The results indicate that blue mussels, a foodstuff rich in selenium, iodine, B12 and containing marine n-3 PUFA, as well as other potential bioactive components, decrease disease activity, not significantly, for DAS28, but for DAS28-C-reactive protein (CRP), in eleven weeks
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1].Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aims at long-term remission, i.e., absence of: joint tenderness, swelling and destruction, pain and functional impairment. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by systemic inflammation and joint damage, that affects 0.5–1% of the population globally, predominantly women [1]. Pain and fatigue are associated with each other, as well as with depression [5] and are significant predictors for high health care costs, loss of employment and physical functioning and poor quality of life [4]. Lifestyle interventions such as physical activity provide evidence of benefit in relation to self-reported fatigue and pain in adults with. The effectiveness of dietary changes on inflammation, pain, fatigue and quality of life has not been satisfactorily evaluated as a result of the few well-controlled dietary interventions [6,7]
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