An experimental study of a Mediterranean diet intervention for patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Open accessAbstract
Objective To investigate the efficacy of a Mediterranean diet (MD) versus an ordinary Western diet for suppression of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods Patients with well controlled, although active RA of at least two years' duration, who were receiving stable pharmacological treatment, were invited to participate. All patients were randomly allocated to the MD or the control diet (CD). To achieve good compliance with prescribed diets all patients were for the first three weeks served the MD or the CD, respectively, for lunch and dinner at the outpatient clinic's canteen. Clinical examinations were performed at baseline, and again in the 3rd, 6th, and 12th week. A composite disease activity index (DAS28), a physical function index (Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)), a health survey of quality of life (Short Form-36 (SF-36)), and the daily consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were used as primary efficacy variables.Results From baseline to the end of the study the patients in the MD group (n=26) showed a decrease in DAS28 of 0.56 (p<0.001), in HAQ of 0.15 (p=0.020), and in two dimensions of the SF-36 Health Survey: an increase in "vitality" of 11.3 (p=0.018) and a decrease in "compared with one year earlier" of 0.6 (p=0.016). For the control patients (n=25) no significant change was seen at the end of the study. This difference between the two treatment groups was notable only in the second half of the trial.Conclusion The results indicate that patients with RA, by adjusting to a Mediterranean diet, did obtain a reduction in inflammatory activity, an increase in physical function, and improved vitality.
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Other intervention trials using the Mediterranean diet have also shown some beneficial effects in the treatment of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and arthritis.
“Other intervention trials using the Mediterranean diet have also shown some beneficial effects in the treatment of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and arthritis (28–30).”
From Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet: Metabolic and Molecular Mechanisms (2018) · cites this paper as [30]
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- Authors
- Sköldstam, L., Hagfors, L., & Johansson, G.
- Affiliations
- Landstinget i Kalmar län (SE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Hagfors, L
- Venue
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-03
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 208-214
- ISSN
- 0003-4967 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC1754463
- OpenAlex
- W2108355568
- Cited by
- 409
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 7.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Umeå Universitet
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Keywords
- Mediterranean diet, rheumatoid arthritis, Western diet, dietary intervention, disease activity, DAS28, physical function, Health Assessment Questionnaire, quality of life, vitality, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, inflammation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Body Weight, Female, Humans, Lipids, Male, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Diet, Mediterranean
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