The Mediterranean diet score was inversely associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a recent study. However, an association was only found among men and only in seropositive RA. Data on 1,721 patients with incident RA (cases) and 3,667 controls, matched on age, gender, and residential area from a population-based case-control study were analyzed using conditional logistic regression. The Mediterranean diet score, ranging from 0 to 9, was calculated from a 124-item food frequency questionnaire. Researchers found:

• Median age of participants was 53 years; 24.1% of the patients and 28.2% of the controls had high adherence to the Mediterranean diet (a score between 6 and 9).
• After adjustments for body mass index, educational level, physical activity, use of dietary supplements, energy intake, and smoking, high adherence reduced the odds of developing RA by 21% as compared to low adherence (a score between 0 and 2).
• The odds ratio (OR) was even lower among men, but no significant association was found among women.