Gout is a painful condition resulting from a buildup of urate crystals in joints, most often in the toes. Urate crystals develop due to elevated uric acid levels in the blood and are generally attributed to high levels of sugar intake.

A recent study published in the April 2008 Archives of Neurology concludes that high levels of urate may actually slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in men.

Researchers from the Massachusetts General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease and Harvard School of Public Health reviewed data from a prior PRECEPT drug trial. That trial included 800 participants and the blood samples from these patients was screened for urate levels. This data was analyzed along with information on the disease progression of the patients.

What the researchers discovered was that newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients with the highest levels of urate had a significantly lower progression rate of the disease over the 2 years of the study.

“These findings, combined with prior knowledge of urate’s protective properties in laboratory studies, raise the possibility that urate-elevating strategies could be used to slow the neurodegeneration of Parkinson’s disease,” says Michael Schwarzschild, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, the study’s lead author. “Potential benefits of urate have to be tempered against the known risks of elevated urate levels, which include gout and kidney stones. From what we know now, urate elevation should only be attempted in the context of a closely monitored clinical trial, in which potential benefits and risks are carefully balanced.”