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Gout, a very common type of inflammatory arthritis, might have an unexpected advantage. As indicated by new research, the condition might prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Gout affects about 8.3 million Americans who experience excruciating joint main and movement limitations.
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University Medical Center based their study on medical records from the United Kingdom, from 1995 to 2013. They investigated a potential connection between gout and Alzheimer’s risks. They used data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN), an electronic database.
The outcome of the review demonstrated that among the 3.7 million patients aged 40+ who were, those patients with a background marked by gout were at a 24 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s contrasted with the individuals who didn’t suffer from this condition.
Past exploration has recommended that antioxidant properties of uric acid, the compound in a human’s blood that can solidify and cause gout, may also be a safeguard against the development or progression of neuro- degenerative ailments.
Dr. Hyon Choi, medicine professor at Harvard Medical School and author of the research told FoxNews that some other factors also contributed to his group’s investigation. Dr. Choi was quoted saying:
“As a major natural antioxidant in the body, uric acid has been estimated to account for more than 50 percent of the antioxidant capacity of plasma. With these potentially neuro-protective properties, uric acid has been hypothesized to protect against oxidative stress, a prominent contributor to dopaminergic neuron degeneration in Parkinson’s disease, which may also play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.”
The team of researchers believes that uric acid is causing the defensive effect of the brain. Choi further noted that there is some proof that it protects mitochondrial function in the body and repairs free radical-caused DNA damages.
The research gives the first population- based confirmation for the potential defensive effect of gout on Alzheimer’s and backs up the alleged neuro-defensive role of uric acid.
Researchers considered a few variables including age, gender, BMI, financial status, way of life , former heart conditions and use of heart medications. People diagnosed with gout or any dementia preceding the begin of the study were not included in the research.
Subsequently, the specialists detected 309 new cases of Alzheimer’s among 59,224 patients with gout and 1,942 cases among 238,805 individuals in the test group over a five-year monitoring. The authors called for addtional studies on the subject.
The discoveries were distributed Wednesday in the British Medical Journal.
Image Source: The Independent
