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Uric Acid

Alternative News:

• Polyphenols may reduce risk of gout: Study - Nutra USA, 12/13/10 - "Gout is a painful form of arthritis caused by disturbances in uric acid metabolism, when an overload of uric acid leads to the formation of urate crystals in bodily tissues, especially the joints – leading to recurring attacks of joint inflammation ... Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance can lead to increased uric acid re-absorption in the kidneys, which in turn can lead to a rise in serum uric acid concentration ... these results suggest that Oligonol lowers serum uric acid through inhibition of xanthine oxidase, and may be effective for prevention and treatment of hyperuricemia and/or gout" - See oligonol products at iHerb.
• Vitamin C May Prevent Hyperuricemia, Gout - Medscape, 9/26/08 - "Hyperuricemia is considered a precursor of gout, which is the most common inflammatory arthritis in adult men ... An association was observed between greater vitamin C intake and lower prevalence of hyperuricemia defined as > 6 mg/dL. The multivariable odds ratio for hyperuricemia for the highest intake of vitamin C (>1000 mg/d) compared to the lowest (<90 mg/d) was 0.34 ... These findings support a potential role of vitamin C in the prevention of hyperuricemia and gout" - See vitamin C products at iHerb.

Other News:

• Serum uric acid and metabolic risk - Curr Med Res Opin. 2013 Apr 24 - "Key papers for inclusion were identified by a PubMed search ... An elevated UA is both strongly associated and predictive of the metabolic syndrome, and increasing evidence suggests that UA may have a causal role. The classical viewpoint that UA is simply an innocuous marker of metabolic syndrome that should not even be measured will likely have to be modified. Lowering UA may be a novel treatment target for preventing diabetes and justify prospective clinical trials on the possible benefits of the measurement and lowering of serum UA on multiple chronic disease end points"
• Uric Acid Measurement Improves Prediction of Cardiovascular Mortality in Later Life - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013 Mar 15 - "In individuals aged 70 and older without overt CVD, renal dysfunction, or diuretic use, serum uric acid greater than 7.0 mg/dL was associated with greater CVD mortality independent of classic CVD risk factors"
• Plasma Uric Acid Is Associated with Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Independent of Diet and Metabolic Risk Factors - J Nutr. 2012 Nov 21 - "case-cohort nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands study ... After adjustment for established diabetes risk factors such as age, the HR (highest vs. lowest quartile of uric acid) for diabetes was 4.36 (95% CI: 3.22, 5.90). Further adjustment for adiposity attenuated the HR to 1.86 (95% CI: 1.32, 2.62). Additional adjustment for hypertension and biochemical markers, such as TG, slightly attenuated the association [HR = 1.43 (95% CI: 0.97, 2.10)]. A uric acid-related dietary pattern did not confound the association. In conclusion, this study supports that high uric acid concentrations are associated with increased diabetes risk, although a large part of the association can be explained by the degree of adiposity"
• Friend or Foe? Uric Acid a 'Probable Cause' of CVD - Medscape, 4/30/12 - "Using the electronic database of the HMO, Clalit, starting in 2002, Leiba et al compared a historical cohort of healthy adults (40–70 years) with low uric-acid levels (<3 mg/dL) with those who had normal values (3.1–6.8 mg/dL) during 10 years of follow-up ... After 10 years of follow-up, healthy subjects with normal uric-acid levels had a 53% higher risk of developing hypertension (HR 1.53; p<0.001) compared with the hypouricemic group ... the risks of developing new-onset diabetes and chronic kidney disease were almost doubled (HR 1.84, p<0.001; and HR 1.93, p=0.055, respectively) in the normal-uric-acid-level group compared with the hypouricemic group ... "What do you do about it? I can't imagine putting people with normal uric acid on allopurinol, so it comes back to the usual kind of lifestyle advice.""
• Uric acid may increase likelihood of severe osteoarthritis - Science Daily, 1/18/11 - "The researchers looked at 159 people, who had knee osteoarthritis but no history of gout, a type of arthritis triggered by uric acid crystals in the joints. The researchers found the severity of osteoarthritis in their knees to be strongly correlated with the amount of uric acid in their knees. The results, which are published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show, despite the lack of gout history, above normal uric acid levels in 39 percent of the study population, and evidence of the form of inflammation in the joints that is typically triggered by uric acid crystals"
• Uric acid level and allopurinol use as risk markers of mortality and morbidity in systolic heart failure - Am Heart J. 2010 Nov;160(5):928-33 - "The allopurinol group and highest uric acid quartile had the highest total mortality (41.7 and 42.4 per 100 person-years, respectively) and combined morbidity/mortality (45.6 and 51.0 per 100 person-years, respectively). Allopurinol use and highest uric acid quartile were independently associated with mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.65, 95% CI 1.22-2.23, P = .001 and HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.07-1.72, P = .01, respectively) and combined morbidity/mortality (uric acid quartile 4 vs 1: HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.06-1.66, P = .02; allopurinol use: HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.11-1.99, P = .008) ... Elevated uric acid level was independently associated with mortality in patients with severe systolic HF, even when accounting for allopurinol use"
• Serum Uric Acid Linked With Development of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 10/2/09 - "The pooled crude relative risk (RR) of a 1 mg/dL increase in serum uric acid was 1.17"
• Gout Drug May Lower Blood Pressure - WebMD, 9/23/09 - "A new study suggests a direct link between a high-sugar diet and high blood pressure ... allopurinol could lower high blood pressure by lowering uric acid" - Note:  Kind of a confusing article.  Yeah, high blood sugar probably is a cause of high blood pressure and high uric acid but the article implies that allopurinol lowers blood pressure by lowering the uric acid not the blood sugar so why is it discussing blood sugar?  I've  written WebMD before about articles like that and they've agreed and changed it.  This one is minor I guess.
• Healthy People With Elevated Levels Of Uric Acid Are At Risk Of Developing Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 9/17/08 - "Elevated uric acid levels in the blood indicate an increased risk of new-onset kidney disease ... it may be appropriate to prescribe uric acid–lowering drugs, such as allopurinol and probenecid, to these otherwise healthy individuals ... individuals in the slightly elevated uric acid group were 1.26 times as likely to develop kidney disease as those in the low uric acid group. The odds of developing kidney disease among volunteers in the elevated uric acid group were 1.63 times greater than that of individuals in the low uric acid group"
• High Levels Of Uric Acid May Be Associated With High Blood Pressure - Science Daily, 8/26/08 - "In the study, half of the 30 teen-agers with newly diagnosed high blood pressure and higher than normal levels of uric acid in their blood underwent treatment with allopurinol twice a day for four weeks. The other half received a placebo (an inactive drug) on the same schedule. They then went without either drug for two weeks before receiving the opposite treatment for another four weeks ... blood pressures decreased to normal in 20 of the 30 teens when they were on allopurinol. By contrast, only 1 of the 30 teens had normal blood pressure when receiving placebo"