患上痛風也許讓你不得老年癡呆症大綱

Gout, a form of arthritis, is extremely painful and associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular problems. But there is a bright side: It may be linked to a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

痛風是關節炎的一種，它很折磨人，而且與心血管疾病風險增加有關。但它也有好的一面：它可能與老年癡呆症風險降低有關。

Researchers compared 59,204 British men and women with gout to 238,805 without the ailment, with an average age of 65. Patients were matched for sex, B.M.I., smoking, alcohol consumption and other characteristics. The study, in The Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, followed the patients for five years.

研究人員花了五年時間對英國的59204名痛風患者和238805名非痛風患者進行比較。他們的平均年齡爲65歲，在性行爲、體重指數、吸菸、喝酒等方面都比較接近。這項研究發表在《風溼病疾病紀事》(The Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases)上。

They found 309 cases of Alzheimer’s among those with gout and 1,942 among those without. Those with gout, whether they were being treated for the condition or not, had a 24 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

他們發現，痛風患者中有309個老年癡呆症病例，非痛風患者中有1942個病例。不管是否正在接受痛風治療，痛風患者得老年癡呆症的比例比另一組低24%。

The reason for the connection is unclear. But gout is caused by excessive levels of uric acid in the blood, and previous studies have suggested that uric acid protects against oxidative stress. This may play a role in limiting neuron degeneration.

這種聯繫的原因尚不明確。不過，痛風是由於血液中尿酸過多，之前的一些研究表明，尿酸能防止氧化應激。它可能有助於延緩神經老化。

“This is a dilemma, because uric acid is thought to be bad, associated with heart disease and stroke,” said the senior author, Dr. Hyon K. Choi, a professor of medicine at Harvard. “This is the first piece of data suggesting that uric acid isn’t all bad. Maybe there is some benefit. It has to be confirmed in randomized trials, but that’s the interesting twist in this story.”

“這是個兩難境地，因爲尿酸被認爲是有害的，與心臟病和中風有關，”這項研究的高級作者、哈佛大學醫學教授崔玄圭博士說，“這是第一組表明尿酸不完全有害的數據。尿酸可能也有益處。我們必須通過隨機試驗來確定，不過這是痛風研究中的一個有趣轉折。”