On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 19:51:22 +0800,

Saturday, 15 February, 2003, 00:02 GMT

Green tea could cut arthritis risk


Drinking green tea could help keep arthritis at bay, say scientists.
The tea, first discovered in China nearly 5,000 years ago, has long been
thought to be beneficial to health.

It has been linked to preventing coronary heart disease, stroke and certain
types of cancer.

But now researchers in Sheffield have found that two compounds found in
green tea, EGCG (epigallocatchin gallate) and ECG (epicatechin gallate) can
help prevent osteoarthritis by blocking the enzyme that destroys cartilage.

Benefits

Dr David Buttle, of the University of Sheffield, said laboratory tests
showed the benefits of regular green tea consumption.

"Green tea should be drunk as a prophylactic to prevent disease.

"If you have fairly severe joint damage it may be too late to do anything
about it, but if you spend decades of your life drinking green tea in the
end it may be beneficial."

He said that one of the compounds EGCG had been shown specifically to
protect the cartilage.

"We have shown that EGCG protects cartilage destruction in test-tube models
of cartilage loss that mimic what happens in the arthritic joint, and work
by others suggests that EGCG reduces joint swelling and pain.

"We now need to do more tests. and then further work on human volunteers."

Research

Sheffield University, where Dr Buttle works, has now taken out a patent for
the use of EGCG in treating osteoarthritis.

The Arthritis Research Campaign, which partly funded the research, said the
initial results were promising.

A spokeswoman said: "Dr Buttle's findings are of great interest, and
although further research needs to be done, in the mean time people should
drink green tea as it's not going to do them any harm - and may in fact do
them a lot of good."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2756635.stm