Nutritional support for hyperuricemia

While it is not within the scope of this review to discuss this important topic with an in- depth examination, it is important to discuss some prevailing concepts and provide some clinical nutritional guidelines for hyperuricemia (Table 8).

Moderation is the key element in any diet approaching hyperuricemia. The nutritional "gold standard" for the treatment of hyperuricemia has been "the low purine diet". This traditional diet has recently come into question as it may limit the intake of high purine vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits are important for the fiber they supply in addition to naturally occurring antioxidants. Recently, of greater importance is controlling obesity through generalized caloric restriction and increased exercise to combat the overnutrition and underexercise of our modern-day society, as well as, controlling the consumption of alcohol [64].

Nutritional support by the nutritionist and the diabetic educator (an integral part of the health care team) is of utmost importance when dealing with the metabolic syndrome, T2DM, and the cardiovascular atherosclerotic afflicted patients in order to obtain global risk reduction, because we are what we eat.

Conclusion

From a clinical standpoint, hyperuricemia should alert the clinician to an overall increased risk of cardiovascular disease and especially those patients with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. Hyperuricemia should therefore be a "red flag" to the clinician to utilize a team effort in achieving an overall approach to obtain a global risk reduction program through the use of the RAAS acronym (Table 7).

Serum uric acid may or may not be an independent risk factor especially since its linkage to other risk factors is so strong, however there is not much controversy regarding its role as a marker of risk, or that it is clinically significant and relevant.

Regarding the MS and epidemiologic evaluations: A multivariate model could well eliminate hyperuricemia as an independent risk factor even if it were contributing to the overall phenotypic risk of the syndrome. Additionally, we must remember that it was Reaven that called for the inclusion of hyperuricemia to Syndrome X we now call MS – insulin resistance syndrome -IRS in 1993 [18].

A quote by Johnson RJ and Tuttle KR is appropriate for the concluding remarks:

"The bottom line is that measuring uric acid is a useful test for the clinician, as it carries important prognostic information. An elevation of uric acid is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and mortality, especially in women" [64].

References