Hyperuricemia is increasing globally and affecting millions of Americans. Why does the body create excessive uric acid, and how can we lower its impact to prevent associated disorders?
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Understanding the adverse effects of waste products, which we call cellular debris, on the brain has been a strong research interest for me. Cellular debris mainly comprises damaged organelles, misfolded proteins, and some degraded neurotransmitters.
However, during my research into metabolism in the 1990s, I also encountered waste products the cells, tissues, and organs create due to the metabolic processes. In the early 2000s, several studies indicated that elevated uric acid was a predictor of cardiovascular mortality.
For example, I came across an eye-opening investigation paper published in JAMA in 2004 titled Uric Acid Level as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged Men. These researchers concluded that serum uric acid levels are a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease mortality in healthy middle-aged men, independent of variables commonly associated with gout or metabolic syndrome.
This JAMA paper concerned me as, during my previous reviews, I learned that uric acid serves as an antioxidant and even has neuroprotective effects in right amounts, so I wondered how it might be a cause of cardiovascular disease and other conditions mentioned in the growing literature.
Numerous studies demonstrated that uric acid may exert neuroprotective actions in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s dementia, and hypouricemia (low uric acid levels) represents a risk factor for a quicker disease progression and a possible marker of malnutrition.
However, high blood uric acid (hyperuricemia) may negatively influence the disease course in vascular dementia. So, both very low and very high uric acid levels might be problematic in theory.
In another story, I will cover hypouricemia, a condition characterized by abnormally low uric acid levels in the blood. It relates to malnutrition or starvation due to eating disorders, genetic factors, Fanconi syndrome, kidney disorders, or liver disease.
In this story, I aim to introduce the adverse effects of hyperuricemia, which is linked to obesity, type II diabetes, erectile dysfunction, heart disease, and dementia, in the growing literature.
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So far, our knowledge is limited, mainly theoretical, and somewhat conflicting. However, as the research landscape continues to evolve with specific clinical studies investigating each connection identified in growing literature, understanding the nuanced role of uric acid in health and disease will be possible to unlock new avenues for prevention and treatment.
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