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Arthritis Treatment: Gouty Arthritis – a serious and fatal disease
Elevated blood uric acid and gout are common conditions in the United States. Data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that gout affects nearly 4 percent of the population. That's 8.3 million people. Even more worrying, however, is the fact that the incidence of gout has more than doubled in the last few decades. There are many reasons for this, including the increasing incidence of other diseases that are risk factors for gout. These diseases include elevated blood lipids, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. The entirety of these conditions is often referred to as “metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome seems...
Arthritis Treatment: Gouty Arthritis – a serious and fatal disease
Elevated blood uric acid and gout are common conditions in the United States. Data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that gout affects nearly 4 percent of the population.
That's 8.3 million people. Even more worrying, however, is the fact that the incidence of gout has more than doubled in the last few decades. There are many reasons for this, including the increasing incidence of other diseases that are risk factors for gout. These diseases include elevated blood lipids, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. The entirety of these conditions is often referred to as “metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome appears to be the end result of lifestyle choices that are commonplace in the United States.
The economic burden of gout is enormous and is due to increased frequency of emergency room visits, more frequent doctor visits, and the cost of medications. In addition, as already described, gout is linked to other common diseases that also have a high price.
While most people perceive gout as just a painful form of arthritis, it is more than that. Due to its association with the above-mentioned diseases, it is now recognized as a major risk factor for death from cardiovascular disease. Even more surprising is that this increased risk is independent of these other factors, including the presence of high blood pressure, diabetes, age, gender and elevated blood lipid levels.
Another troubling association is gout and kidney disease. Many people with gout have kidneys that are not functioning at 100 percent. Because uric acid is excreted via the kidneys, there is ultimately less uric acid excretion and thus gradual accumulation, leading to increased uric acid levels in the blood. This sets up a vicious cycle as elevated levels of uric acid in the blood can worsen kidney disease. Uric acid has been shown to cause inflammation of blood vessels, which could contribute to kidney damage as well as potentially the heart problems described previously.
About 60 percent of people with gout have some degree of kidney dysfunction. The problem is that medications used to treat acute gout attacks, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colchicine, can affect kidney function. Even the traditional medicine used to lower serum uric acid, allopurinol, requires dosage adjustments in the presence of kidney abnormalities.
It is clear that gouty arthritis is a public health problem that causes both significant morbidity and mortality and needs to be addressed more aggressively.
Inspired by Nathan Wei