Gout and Parkinson's disease

Abstract

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. Alvaro Alonso, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist, was one of the lead researchers. <clip: “Interestingly, in our study we found that…lower risk than people without gout.”> Of the 8,000 people studied, 1,000 had gout. Alonso said that the association between gout and lower risk of Parkinson's disease was observed among men, nonsmokers, and study participants at least 60 years old. Alonso 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. <clip: “The interest of our results is not…but more treatments are needed.”>With another Public Health Moment, I’m John Finnegan.