[577]
Mi è stata diagnosticato circa 3 anni fa la Sindrome di Sjogren attraverso una serie di esami variati nel tempo.
Solo nel maggio 2002 mi sono decisa ad iniziare la cura prescrittami a base di cortisone e ciclosporina in quanto le mie ghiandole salivali si erano ingrossate in maniera molto evidente (non era la prima volta che si gonfiavano, ma questa volta anche dopo 15 gg. erano ancora gonfie). Ora vorrei sapere se attraverso una alimentazione vegetariana potrò, nel tempo, evitare di prendere i farmaci. Vorrei sapere se ci sono studi medici in merito alle connettiviti. [F.C.]
Risposta a cura della dott.ssa LUCIANA BARONI, specializzata in Neurologia
Studi sulle malattie autoimmuni che interessano il connettivo sono stati condotti prevalentemente sull'Artrite Reumatoide, che è la più frequente, ma come sa queste malattie sono molto simili tra loro. Può trovare qualcosa di abbastanza semplice da consultare all'url https://www.scienzavegetariana.it/nutrizione/VNPGI_IVD/AR.html.
Le riporto di seguito i più recenti articoli comparsi sull'argomento. Come vede, tutti si riferiscono alla dieta vegana, cioè priva di alimenti di origine animale, e tutti gli studi sono concordi nel dire che è utile.
J Altern Complement Med 2002 Feb;8(1):71-5
Effects of a very low-fat, vegan diet in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis.
McDougall J, Bruce B, Spiller G, Westerdahl J, McDougall M.
St Helena Hospital, Deer Park, CA, USA. drmcdougall@drmcdougall.comOBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the effects of a very low-fat, vegan diet on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). DESIGN: Single-blind dietary intervention study. SUBJECTS AND STUDY INTERVENTIONS: This study evaluated the influence of a 4-week, very low-fat (approximately 10%), vegan diet on 24 free-living subjects with RA, average age, 56 +/- 11 years old. Outcome measurements: Prestudy and poststudy assessment of RA symptomatology was performed by a rheumatologist blind to the study design. Biochemical measures and 4-day diet data were also collected. Subjects met weekly for diet instruction, compliance monitoring, and progress assessments. RESULTS: There were significant (p < 0.001) decreases in fat (69%), protein (24%), and energy (22%), and a significant increase in carbohydrate (55%) intake. All measures of RA symptomatology decreased significantly (p < 0.05), except for duration of morning stiffness (p > 0.05). Weight also decreased significantly (p < 0.001). At 4 weeks, C-reactive protein decreased 16% (ns, p > 0.05), RA factor decreased 10% (ns, p > 0.05), while erythrocyte sedimentation rate was unchanged (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed that patients with moderate-to-severe RA, who switch to a very low-fat, vegan diet can experience significant reductions in RA symptoms.
Rheumatology (Oxford) 2001 Oct;40(10):1175-9
A vegan diet free of gluten improves the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: the effects on arthritis correlate with a reduction in antibodies to food antigens.
Hafstrom I, Ringertz B, Spangberg A, von Zweigbergk L, Brannemark S, Nylander I, Ronnelid J, Laasonen L, Klareskog L.
Department of Rheumatology, Karolinska Institutet at Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.OBJECTIVE: Whether food intake can modify the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an issue of continued scientific and public interest. However, data from controlled clinical trials are sparse. We thus decided to study the clinical effects of a vegan diet free of gluten in RA and to quantify the levels of antibodies to key food antigens not present in the vegan diet. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with active RA were randomized to either a vegan diet free of gluten (38 patients) or a well-balanced non-vegan diet (28 patients) for 1 yr. All patients were instructed and followed-up in the same manner. They were analysed at baseline and after 3, 6 and 12 months, according to the response criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Furthermore, levels of antibodies against gliadin and beta-lactoglobulin were assessed and radiographs of the hands and feet were performed. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients in the vegan group and 25 patients in the non-vegan diet group completed 9 months or more on the diet regimens. Of these diet completers, 40.5% (nine patients) in the vegan group fulfilled the ACR20 improvement criteria compared with 4% (one patient) in the non-vegan group. Corresponding figures for the intention to treat populations were 34.3 and 3.8%, respectively. The immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels against gliadin and beta-lactoglobulin decreased in the responder subgroup in the vegan diet-treated patients, but not in the other analysed groups. No retardation of radiological destruction was apparent in any of the groups. CONCLUSION: The data provide evidence that dietary modification may be of clinical benefit for certain RA patients, and that this benefit may be related to a reduction in immunoreactivity to food antigens eliminated by the change in diet.
Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd 2001 Aug;8(4):228-31
[Clinical remission of an HLA B27-positive sacroiliitis on vegan diet] [Article in German] Huber R, Herdrich A, Rostock M, Vogel T. Ambulanz fur Naturheilverfahren und Umweltmedizin, Abteilung Innere Medizin II, Universitatsklinik Freiburg. rhuber@med1.ukl.uni-freiburg.deBACKGROUND: Positive effects of fasting and vegan diet in patients with rheumatic diseases are reported in the literature. MEDICAL HISTORY: We present a 33-year-old patient with double-sided HLA B27-positive sacroiliitis, which was diagnosed by magnetic resonance tomography. Since about 10 years he therefore had pain in the iliosacral region. Numerous sessions of physiotherapy, a cure treatment, and treatment with sulfasalazine and doxycycline were not effective. The patient was dependent on the daily intake of the nonsteroidal antirheumatics meloxicam 2 x 7.5 mg and ibuprofen 400-800 mg and the analgetic tramadol 50-150 mg, but evening and night pain and morning stiffness persisted under this treatment. TREATMENT: We recommended a temporary vegan diet, i.e. to completely avoid animal fats and proteins. COURSE: 3-4 days after changing on vegan diet the complaints improved distinctly and persistently. After consumption of meat 6 weeks later, complaints worsened. Consequent vegan diet again resulted in significant improvement of the pain and morning stiffness. At follow-up 3 months after the initial contact, tramadol and ibuprofen intakes had been stopped, meloxicam had been reduced to 1 x 7.5 mg. The patient was almost completely free of complaints. CONCLUSIONS: It was demonstrated that in a single case of sacroiliitis which was refractory to other treatment, vegan diet resulted in a convincingly improvement of complaints. Copyright 2001 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg
Toxicology 2000 Nov 30;155(1-3):45-53
Antioxidants in vegan diet and rheumatic disorders.
Hanninen, Kaartinen K, Rauma AL, Nenonen M, Torronen R, Hakkinen AS, Adlercreutz H, Laakso J.
Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland. osmo.hanninen@uku.fiPlants are rich natural sources of antioxidants in addition to other nutrients. Interventions and cross sectional studies on subjects consuming uncooked vegan diet called living food (LF) have been carried out. We have clarified the efficacy of LF in rheumatoid diseases as an example of a health problem where inflammation is one of the main concerns. LF is an uncooked vegan diet and consists of berries, fruits, vegetables and roots, nuts, germinated seeds and sprouts, i.e. rich sources of carotenoids, vitamins C and E. The subjects eating LF showed highly increased levels of beta and alfa carotenes, lycopen and lutein in their sera. Also the increases of vitamin C and vitamin E (adjusted to cholesterol) were statistically significant. As the berry intake was 3-fold compared to controls the intake of polyphenolic compounds like quercetin, myricetin and kaempherol was much higher than in the omnivorous controls. The LF diet is rich in fibre, substrate of lignan production, and the urinary excretion of polyphenols like enterodiol and enterolactone as well as secoisolaricirecinol were much increased in subjects eating LF. The shift of fibromyalgic subjects to LF resulted in a decrease of their joint stiffness and pain as well as an improvement of their self-experienced health. The rheumatoid arthritis patients eating the LF diet also reported similar positive responses and the objective measures supported this finding. The improvement of rheumatoid arthritis was significantly correlated with the day-to-day fluctuation of subjective symptoms. In conclusion the rheumatoid patients subjectively benefited from the vegan diet rich in antioxidants, lactobacilli and fibre, and this was also seen in objective measures.
Acta Physiol Hung 1999;86(3-4):171-80
Vegan diet in physiological health promotion.
Hanninen O, Rauma AL, Kaartinen K, Nenonen M.
Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland.We have performed a number of studies including dietary interventions and cross-sectional studies on subjects consuming uncooked vegan food called living food (LF) and clarified the changes in several parameters related to health risk factors. LF consists of germinated seeds, cereals, sprouts, vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts. Some items are fermented and contain a lot of lactobacilli. The diet is rich in fiber. It has very little sodium, and it contains no cholesterol. Food items like berries and wheat grass juice are rich in antioxidants such as carotenoids and flavonoids. The subjects eating living food show increased levels of carotenoids and vitamins C and E and lowered cholesterol concentration in their sera. Urinary excretion of sodium is only a fraction of the omnivorous controls. Also urinary output of phenol and p-cresol is lowered as are several fecal enzyme levels which are considered harmful. The rheumatoid arthritis patients eating the LF diet reported amelioration of their pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness which all got worse after finishing LF diet. The composite indices of objective measures showed also improvement of the rheumatoid arthritis patients during the intervention. The fibromyalgic subjects eating LF lost weight compared to their omnivorous controls. The results on their joint stiffness and pain (visual analogue scale), on their quality of sleep, on health assessment questionnaire and on general health questionnaire all improved. It appears that the adoption of vegan diet exemplified by the living food leads to a lessening of several health risk factors to cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Rheumatoid patients subjectively benefited from the vegan diet which was also seen in serum parameters and fecal analyses.
