Only about 8 million people suffer from gout in the United States alone.
Although this is a painful disabling disease, the scientists seem to have found their positive side too: patients with gout are less likely to become victims of Alzheimer's disease.
Gout is a common disease that occurs as a result of excessive production or inadequate excretion of uric acid from the body.
At the same time crystals of salts of uric acid (urates) are deposited in tissues and inflammation occurs. The disease is manifested by relapsing arthritis, which can lead to deformity of the joints.
Gout often affects the toes, knees, elbows and other joints. When the disease first appears, the symptoms may disappear after a few days. But over time, exacerbations may become more frequent and prolonged.
The authors of the latest study, the staff of the Department of Rheumatology, Allergology and Immunology of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), say that an elevated level of uric acid in the blood of such patients is associated with an additional risk of cardiovascular and renal diseases. But, according to other scientists, uric acid can have a neuroprotective effect, reducing the risk and slowing the development of Parkinson's disease.
Based on such data, the scientists asked the question: Can uric acid be protected from Alzheimer's? This was confirmed in the course of their latest study, the results of which were published in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
Gout reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 24% The researchers used data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN), an electronic database that contains records of 10.2 million patients from across the UK. This valuable information allowed scientists to trace the connection between the two diseases.
They selected 59,224 patients with gout (mean age 65 years) and 238,805 patients without the disease. All patients were examined at least 1 year before enrollment. During the observation period, which averaged 5 years, 309 new cases of Alzheimer's disease were detected in patients with gout and 1,942 cases in patients without this disease.
After including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status, the presence of cardiovascular diseases and the use of cardiopreparations in the analysis, the researchers calculated that people with gout have a 24% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Although scientists emphasize that the design of the study does not allow to prove the causal relationship between the diseases, they remind that in the early works a certain role of uric acid in neurological diseases.
"On animals with Parkinson's disease it was demonstrated that uric acid has a neuroprotective effect, protecting dopaminergic neurons from oxidative stress and death.
A similar neuroprotective effect was observed in animal experiments with other neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, "authors write..
Their conclusion was as follows: "The first evidence of the possible protective effect of gout in Alzheimer's disease. They once again confirm the neuroprotective properties of uric acid. If this is proved in future studies, it will be possible to create entirely new methods for the prevention and treatment of widespread and destructive diseases of the nervous system ".
medbe. en.