High uric acid levels linked to greater mortality

(HealthDay)—High serum uric acid levels are associated with greater risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, but not cancer mortality, in elderly adults, according to a study published online Aug. 16 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Chen-Yi Wu, M.D., Ph.D., from Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues utilized the Annual Geriatric Health Examination Program (2006 to 2010) to estimate the all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks associated with serum uric acid levels in elderly adults.

The researchers found that men had significantly higher uric acid levels than women (P < 0.001), and mean levels increased with age (P < 0.001). High serum uric acid levels were an independent risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, compared to normal levels in men and women, with the strongest association found for cardiovascular mortality. This association with cardiovascular mortality was independent of other cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and glomerular filtration rate levels. Men with levels in the second quartile had the lowest hazard ratios for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

"Further studies are warranted to investigate the prognostic implications and potential utility in the monitoring of therapy," the authors write.