Gout in the metatarsal-phalangeal joint of the big toe as seen in the slight redness of the skin overlying the joint.
Anyone suffering from gout literally swears at it. And with good reason.
This painful condition marked by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis causing a red, tender, hot, swollen joint in the toes just might significantly lower the risk from contracting Alzheimer's disease. Gout is caused by high uric acid levels.
A new study finds gout might protect persons against Alzheimer's. The study follows prior research that suggested people with gout might also have a lower risk for other neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's, said WebMD.
"Our work shows the potential protective effect of a high level of uric acid and gout against the development of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Hyon Choi, a professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, allergy and immunology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The study, however, can't prove cause-and-effect, and this is just an initial finding, Choi noted.
"One paper doesn't make science," he said.
Choi's team looked at data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) involving 3.7 million British patients above the age of 40 who had not been diagnosed with gout or dementia prior to the start of the follow-up. Specifically targeted were two groups: over 59,000 gout patients and some 239,000 gout-free patients.
THIN is an electronic medical record database that represents the general population of the U.K. between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2013, according to HNGN.
The research findings showed only about 300 gout patients developed Alzheimer's disease compared to over 1,900 of the gout-free patients.
After taking into consideration other factors such as age, obesity levels and heart health history the researchers found people with gout had a 24 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Choi said it was unlikely treating gout would eliminate the anti-Alzheimer's benefit.
"By the time a gout patient starts taking anything to lower his [uric acid] levels, a lifelong exposure to elevated uric acid has already occurred," he said. "So the future impact on Alzheimer's risk is likely to be irrelevant."
The results were published in a recent edition of the British Medical Journal.
