How ‘the disease of kings’ has returned: Why cases of gout are rising in Britain – are YOU at risk?

  • The condition is known as ‘disease of kings’ as it used to mainly afflict nobility
  • Monarchs such as Henry VIII, George IV and Queen Anne all suffered from it
  • The likes of Neville Chamberlain and Benjamin Franklin also had bouts of gout
  • It’s associated with heavy meat and alcohol consumption, and a lack of exercise
  • There has been an increase in cases in recent years – 1.5m Brits suffer from it

By MATTHEW LODGE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 13:43 EST, 26 December 2022 | UPDATED: 11:22 EST, 31 December 2022

As the ‘disease of kings’, gout has long plagued the upper echelons of British society.

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Gout is on the rise – so why do so few patients get treatment they need?

The Irish News 11, November, 2022

Cases of gout are on the rise, but the condition is misunderstood, and few patients get the treatment they need, writes Julie Cook

AS an active young man in his 20s, Harry Tyndall was both shocked and scared to wake up one morning with an intense shooting pain in his right foot.

“It was the worst pain ever – I thought I’d broken it. I couldn’t even walk, yet I had done nothing to injure it,” recalls Harry, who was then just 27.

A trip to A&E followed, where Harry was diagnosed with gout, a form of arthritis that causes sudden, severe joint pain and is often associated with elderly men paying the price for over-indulging in rich food and port.

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Occurrence of gout in rheumatoid arthritis: it does happen! A population-based study

Aim

It has been a popular belief that gout does not typically occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our aim was to assess the occurrence, prevalence, clinical presentation and possible risk factors for gout in patients with RA.

Patients & methods

We retrospectively reviewed a population-based incidence cohort of patients who fulfilled 1987 ACR criteria for RA between 1980 and 2007. The cumulative prevalence of gout in RA adjusted for the competing risk of death was estimated.

Executive summary

Background

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Gout Comes With Increased Heart Risk

Incident gout and risk of first-time acute coronary syndrome: a prospective, population-based, cohort study in Sweden

Panagiota Drivelegka MD, PhD,Lennart T.H. Jacobsson MD,Ulf Lindström MD,Karin Bengtsson MD, PhD,Mats Dehlin MD

First published: 12 September 2022

https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.25018

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the risk of first-time acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in a large cohort of primary and secondary care patients with incident gout, compared to the general population.

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Ultrasonography in the prediction of gout flares: a 12-month prospective observational study

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate whether ultrasound (US) findings indicating monosodium urate (MSU) deposits and US-detected inflammation [i.e. power Doppler (PD) signal] predict gout flares over 12 months.

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Sleep and your health

Sleep and your health

As life gets more hectic, it is all too easy to go without sleep. In fact, many Americans only get 6 hours of sleep a night or less.

You need ample sleep to help restore your brain and body. Not getting enough sleep can be bad for your health in a number of ways.

Why you Need Sleep

Sleep gives your body and brain time to recover from the stresses of the day. After a good night’s sleep, you perform better and are better at making decisions. Sleep can help you feel more alert, optimistic, and get along with people better. Sleep also helps your body ward off disease.

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‘Horribly mismanaged’: Debate over gout treatment rages as cases surge

All around the world, gout prevalence is growing at an alarming pace, while gout treatment remains as “horribly mismanaged” as ever.

This rapid growth has spurred on a worldwide “gout epidemic,” James ODell, MD, Robert L. Grissom professor of internal medicine and vice chair and chief of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha, who, told the attendees at the American College of Rheumatology Covergence 2021 annual meeting.

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Diuretics and Gout: Is there a connection?

High Blood Pressure, Prescription Diuretics, and Gout

What is high blood pressure?

High Blood Pressure, also called hypertension, is when blood puts too much pressure against the walls of your arteries. About 1 in 3 adults have high blood pressure, usually with no symptoms. But it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and kidney disease.

What lifestyle changes can help lower high blood pressure?

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Stress accelerates immune aging, study finds

Traumatic life events, discrimination prematurely weaken body’s mix of immune cells

Date: June 13, 2022

Source: University of Southern California

Summary: Stress — in the form of traumatic events, job strain, everyday stressors and discrimination — accelerates aging of the immune system, potentially increasing a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and illness from infections such as COVID-19, according to a new study. The research could help explain disparities in age-related health, including the unequal toll of the pandemic, and identify possible points for intervention.

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Native Hawaiians have higher risk for gout, UH study finds

May 31, 2022, 12:30 PM HST Maui News

An analysis of nearly two decades of data of 92,000 people revealed Native Hawaiians had more than twice the risk of Whites participants of developing gout as older adults.

The new study by University of Mānoa researchers — and one of the largest multiethnic gout studies to date — was published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

Gout, a common and painful form of arthritis, is becoming more prevalent in the United States. But the differences in risk between populations remains largely understudied, especially for Native Hawaiians. This study helped shed some light on these differences. It also revealed black participants had the second highest risk, followed by Japanese participants.

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