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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.
痛风是关节炎的一种，它很折磨人，而且与心血管疾病风险增加有关。但它也有好的一面：它可能与老年痴呆症风险降低有关。
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.
研究人员花了五年时间对英国的59204名痛风患者和238805名非痛风患者进行比较。他们的平均年龄为65岁，在性行为、体重指数、吸烟、喝酒等方面都比较接近。这项研究发表在《风湿病疾病纪事》(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.
他们发现，痛风患者中有309个老年痴呆症病例，非痛风患者中有1942个病例。不管是否正在接受痛风治疗，痛风患者得老年痴呆症的比例比另一组低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.
这种联系的原因尚不明确。不过，痛风是由于血液中尿酸过多，之前的一些研究表明，尿酸能防止氧化应激。它可能有助于延缓神经老化。
“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.”
“这是个两难境地，因为尿酸被认为是有害的，与心脏病和中风有关，”这项研究的高级作者、哈佛大学医学教授崔玄圭博士说，“这是第一组表明尿酸不完全有害的数据。尿酸可能也有益处。我们必须通过随机试验来确定，不过这是痛风研究中的一个有趣转折。”
