Korea: Results from a nationwide elderly cohort study showed a link between gout and dementia. According to the study, gout patients were at a 37% lower risk of developing dementia regardless of dementia type.
Findings of the study, published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, support the beneficial effects of gout and hyperuricemia on neuroprotection.
There is inconsistent data on the association between gout and dementia. Kyung Eun Lee, College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju-si, Republic of Korea, and colleagues, therefore, conducted the study with an objective to examine if gout is associated with dementia risk in the elderly in a retrospective cohort study.

The study used population-based representative claims data from the National Health Insurance Service in Korea. Elderly Cohort database was used that represents 10% of the elderly Koreans over the age of 60, from 2002 to 2013. The association of gout was assessed with a new diagnosis of dementia. The data was adjusted for potential covriates such as demographics (age, sex) and comorbidities.
Based on the study, the researchers found the following:
· 22,178 patients with gout and 113,590 without gout were included. In each group, 2,557 (11.53%) and 18,264 (16.08%) patients, respectively, had dementia.
· In multivariable analyses, gout was independently associated with a significantly lower hazard ratio of incident dementia, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.63.
· A sub-group analysis conducted to find out the effects of gout medication showed that febuxostat use significantly decreased incident dementia.
To conclude, gout was independently associated with a 37% lower risk of dementia in the older adults.
"Our findings provide the population-based evidence for the potential protective effect of gout on the dementia risk and support the neuroprotective role of uric acid," the researchers wrote.
Reference:
The study titled, "Association Between Gout and Dementia in the Elderly: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study," was published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2021.01.016