CHANGES IN LABORATORY VARIABLES IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS DURING A TRIAL OF FASTING AND ONE-YEAR VEGETARIAN DIET

We have previously reported that significant improvement may be obtain ed in rheumatoid arthritis patients by fasting followed by a vegetaria n diet for one year. The present study was carried out to examine to w hat extent biochemical and immunological variables changed during the clinical trial of fasting and vegetarian diet. For the patients who we re randomised to the vegetarian diet there was a significant decrease in platelet count, leukocyte count, calprotectin, total IgG, IgM rheum atoid factor (RF), C3-activation products, and the complement componen ts C3 and C4 after one month of treatment. None of the measured parame ters changed significantly during this period in the group of omnivore s. The course of 14 of 15 measured variables favored the vegetarians c ompared with the omnivores, but the difference was only significant fo r leukocyte count, IgM RF and the complement components C3 and C4. Mos t of the laboratory variables declined considerably in the vegetarians who improved according to clinical variables, indicating a substantia l reduction in inflammatory activity. The leukocyte count, however, de creased in the vegetarians irrespective of the clinical results. Thus, the decline in leukocyte count may be attributed to vegetarian diet p er se and not to the reduction in disease activity. The results of the present study are in accordance with the findings from the clinical t rial, namely that dietary treatment can reduce the disease activity in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis.