Simple Blood Test May Predict Memory Problems

A simple blood test to measure uric acid levels may help predict cognitive problems associated with old age, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins and Yale University medical schools.

The Study

For the study, researchers performed a blood test to measure the uric acid levels of 96 adults ages 60 to 92. The participants with uric acid levels in the high-normal range, defined as 5.8 to 7.6 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) in men and 4.8 to 7.1 mg/dL in women, had the lowest scores on tests of mental processing speed, verbal memory and working memory, regardless of age, sex, weight, race, education, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and alcohol abuse.

Recommendations

The findings suggest that uric acid testing may be a useful marker for the risk of cognitive impairment.

"It might be useful for primary care physicians to ask elderly adults with high normal serum uric acid about problems they might be having with their thinking, and perhaps refer those who express concern, or whose family members express concern, for neuropsychological screening," said study author David Schretlen.

The authors said that further studies are needed to determine whether drugs that reduce uric acid, such as allopurinol, could help older people with high-normal uric acid avoid the cognitive decline that often precedes dementia.

Schretlen said that for reasons that are not entirely clear, uric acid levels increase with age. And higher levels of uric acid have been linked with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, and abdominal obesity and insulin resistance—all known risk factors for dementia.

Evidence of the connection between uric acid and cognitive function indicates that uric acid testing could be a valuable tool for detecting early cognitive problems in old age, according to the study.