Category: Gout Related

Uric Acid Causes Reduced Nerve Damage A new study explains how uric acid causes chemical processes in the body that might help damaged nerve cells. The study explains that scientists have known about the beneficial effects on nerve cells, but have not understood how this works. When spinal cord injury occurs, there are 2 types of damage. The first is physical trauma. The second is chemical damage as a substance called glutamate builds up in response to the damage. Glutamate is vital to healthy nerve function, but too much can choke other vital nerve cells to death. Astroglia-mediated effects of uric acid to protect spinal cord neurons from glutamate toxicity looks at the processes involved. Professor Firestein, and others, reveal how uric acid works with other specialized non-neuronal support cells called astroglia (or astrocytes). It is this combination that promote transporters that combat excess glutamate. Of course, this does not really help the gout sufferer. All we know is that excess uric acid causes...

Reduce Uric Acid For Better Brains Most gout sufferers try to reduce uric acid to lower the risk of acute gout attacks. New research suggests that there may be another reason - improving brain performance. Serum Uric Acid and Cognitive Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults looks at 96 men and women with normal uric acid levels. The study excludes people who are taking medications to reduce uric acid. Normal levels include men with up to 7.6 mg/dL and women up to 7.1 mg/dL. Of this group, the top 25% (men with uric acid levels between 5.8 and 7.6 mg/dL and women between 4.8 and 7.1 mg/dL) are classed as having high uric acid levels. The chart above shows the percentage of people who performed worst in a number of tests. The data is taken from the following table: SkillLow Uric Acid  High Uric Acid General verbal23%32% General visuospatial  21%36% Processing speed16%52% Working memory18%44% Verbal memory20%40% Visual memory25%16% Verbal fluency25%24% The authors point out that nobody knows how uric acid levels and brain function are...

Whilst looking for information about uric acid, I came across an interesting piece about Alzheimer's disease and uric acid [reference to Mathilda37 removed: no longer available]. In the article, Mathilda refers to some recent research about uric acid as a potential cure for Alzheimer's, or at least a way to hold the progression of the disease. The research in this article follows on from a piece I did last year explaining how uric acid could reduce nerve damage. The researcher, Professor Firestein, pointed out to me that maintaining an adequate level of uric acid in the body is important. There are a few more important points about uric acid, Alzheimer's disease and related medical conditions and treatments. (more…)...

A recent gout forum post bemoaned the tantalizing finale to a sales pitch for an expensive article on uric acid and heart disease.Our contributor wanted to scream for the conclusion of an article which ended (before you had to pay) with the teasing :"risk for sudden cardiac death among patients with myocardial infarction who?"I'm happy to provide more, for the usual price of free, but I cannot promise all the answers.First, I should point out that the offending article was (more…)...