By David Liu, PHD

Wednesday sept 12, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- High uric acid should be considerd a risk factor for death and cardiovascular events in patients who have recently experienced myocardial infarction, a study in International Journal of Cardiology suggests.  uric acid has been associated with cardiovascular disease, but not yet accepted as a risk factor for the disease.

Giacomo Levantesi of Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Santa Maria Imbaro in Chieti, Italy and colleagues conducted the study and found 

men and women who had myocardial infarction in the highest quintile of uric acid were 63 percent more likely than those in the lowest quintile to die.

Enrolled in the study were 10,840 patients in the GISS-Prevenzione trial. Uric acid levels are categoried in quintiles.  During 38,802 perso-years of follow-up, 974 deaths and 1120 cardiovascular events were identified.

The uric acid level was positively associated with total mortality or death risk.    In addition to the associaiton between high uric acid and total mortality, a similar association between uric acid and cardiovascular event risk in patients who had myocardial infarction was also observed.

The researchers concluded "High UA (uric acid) may be considered a risk factor for death and CVE (cardiovascular events).

Fructose as found high in high fructose corn syrup is known to promote the production of uric acid in the body.