Uric Acid Levels Linked to Mini-Strokes
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 18:00 CDT
U.S. researchers link high-normal uric acid levels to barely detectable mini-strokes that contribute to mental decline in those aging.
The study, published in Neurology, linked elevated uric acid levels to high volumes of white matter hyperintensities -- small dead areas in the brain caused by oxygen deprivation. In the future, lowering uric acid levels with diet, exercise and drugs may help reduce mini-strokes, study author David Schretlen, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, said.
Over a lifetime, it is common to have a small number of these mini-strokes and not even notice, but as the overall volume of white matter hyperintensities increases, the damage can seriously disrupt how quickly we think and how effectively we learn and remember information, Schretlen said in a statement.
Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of 85 men and 92 women, ages 20 to 92 years -- with normal levels of uric acid -- showed those with high-normal levels had 2.6 times the volume of white matter hyperintensities found in those with average or low uric acid. Those over the age of 60 -- with high-normal uric acid levels -- had four to five times the volume of white matter hyperintensities.
Source: United Press International
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