Welcome  to  public  health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. If  you  have  gout,  a  form  of  arthritis, you  may  have  a  lower  risk of  acquiring  Parkinson's  disease. That's  according  to  a  study  of 8,000  people  in  the  United  Kingdom. Al  Varro  Alonzo, a  University  of  Minnesota  epidemiologist was  one  of  the  lead  researchers. Interestingly,  in  our  study, we  found  that  those  individuals with  gout  had  a  lower  risk  of  Parkinson's  disease. Around  30%  lower  risk  than  people  without  gout. Alonzo  said  that  the  association between  gout  and  lower  risk  of Parkinson's  disease  was  observed  among  men  non  smokers, and  study  participants  at  least  60  years  old. Alonzo  says  that  people  with  gout have  a  high  level  of  uric  acid  in  their  blood. The  uric  acid,  he  said, may  serve  as  a  protective  factor against  Parkinson's  disease. But  further  study  is  needed. The  interests  of  our  results  is  that  it  is not  that  having  gout  is  good  for  your  health, but  rather  that  we  are  providing  new  evidence  that uric  acid  could  be  involved in  the  pathogenesis  of  Parkinson  disease. And  that  could  give  us  clues  to  develop  new  treatments. Currently,  there  are  some  treatments effective  for  Parkinson  disease, but  more  treatments  are needed  with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.