Uncategorized

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.

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.

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.

Uric Acid & Gout News: Hereditary Fructose Intolerance

Hereditary fructose intolerance is a disorder in which a person lacks the protein needed to break down fructose. Fructose is a fruit sugar that naturally occurs in the body. Man-made fructose is used as a sweetener in many foods, including baby food and drinks.

Causes

This condition occurs when the body is missing an enzyme called aldolase B. This substance is needed to break down fructose.

If a person without this substance eats fructose or sucrose (cane or beet sugar, table sugar), complicated chemical changes occur in the body. The body cannot change its stored form of sugar (glycogen) into glucose. As a result, blood sugar falls and dangerous substances build up in the liver.

Hereditary fructose intolerance is inherited, which means it can be passed down through families. If both parents carry a nonworking copy of the aldolase B gene, each of their children has a 25% (1 in 4) chance of being affected.

Does Gout Go Away?

This is somewhat of a loaded question, overall. If we are speaking of an actual Gout “attack”, then yes, for the most part, it will go away. Most Gout attacks will eventually subside, with or without treatment. The attacks will generally reach its peak 12-24hrs after onset and then slowly begin to resolve, usually with full recovery in one to two weeks. Some Gout sufferers only experience 1-2 attacks per year, and those that are lucky, only 1-2 times in their lifetime. However, Chronic Gout sufferers can experience frequent attacks with very little time in between — with some so unfortunate as to never have a full resolution of inflammation and pain in between attacks. This stage of chronic Gout can cause a great deal of joint destruction and even deformity once tophi (hard uric acid deposits under the skin) has formed. Continue reading “Does Gout Go Away?”

Higher levels of omega-3 acids in the blood increases life expectancy by almost five years

A 1% increase in this substance in the blood is associated with a change in mortality risk similar to that of quitting smoking.

Date:July 22, 2021Source: IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute)

Summary: Researchers have found that omega-3 levels in blood erythrocytes are very good mortality risk predictors. The study used data from a long-term study group, the Framingham Offspring Cohort, which has been monitoring residents of this Massachusetts town, in the United States, since 1971 and concludes that, ‘Having higher levels of these acids in the blood, as a result of regularly including oily fish in the diet, increases life expectancy by almost five years.’

Hyperuricemia as a potential plausible risk factor for periodontitis

Abstract

Author: Zi-yun Chen,Lu-wen Ye,Li Zhao,Zhao-jia Liang,Ting Yu,Jie Gao

Publication: Medical Hypotheses

Publisher: Elsevier

Date: April 2020

Elevated blood uric acid (UA) levels have been positively associated with the severity of periodontitis. It thus brings out a hypothesis that hyperuricemia, a pathological elevation of blood UA, might be a risk factor for periodontitis. Namely, periodontitis individuals with Hu might acquire more severe periodontal destruction compared to those without Hu. To support the hypothesis, four aspects of evidences are proposed.

In-hospital cardiac procedures up for those with gout, rheumatoid arthritis

(HealthDay)—Rates of in-hospital cardiac procedures continued to increase in people with gout and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from 1998 to 2014, although they decreased for the general population, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease.Jasvinder A. Singh, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., and John Cleveland, M.D., both from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, used data from the U.S. National Inpatient Sample (1998 to 2014) to examine the frequency of seven common cardiac and orthopedic procedures in hospitalized people with gout and RA compared to the general population.

Wearable sweat sensor detects gout-causing compounds

Date:November 25, 2019

Source: California Institute of Technology

Summary: Scientists have developed an easier way to mass-produce highly sensitive sweat sensors that can detect a variety of low-concentration compounds related to health conditions.

There are numerous things to dislike about going to the doctor: Paying a copay, sitting in the waiting room, out-of-date magazines, sick people coughing without covering their mouths. For many, though, the worst thing about a doctor’s visit is getting stuck with a needle. Blood tests are a tried-and-true way of evaluating what is going on with your body, but the discomfort is unavoidable. Or maybe not, say Caltech scientists.

Gout Questions and Answers

Let us better help you better understand this condition – despite the tons of misinformation that circulates on the internet.

Why are blood test results misleading when it comes to a Gout diagnosis?

Blood tests can reveal the concentration of uric acid in your system. However, while you are under an attack your blood could potentially read quite normal. Over 60% of patients presenting with acute gouty arthritis symptoms have uric acid levels of <8mg/dl. Measuring serum uric acid levels while under an attack may not be too helpful in a diagnostic sense. Why? The crystals relentlessly jabbing at your joints are NOT in a soluble form at that time.

Category: Uncategorized

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

Sleep and your health

Sleep and your health

Why you Need Sleep

Stress accelerates immune aging, study finds

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

Uric Acid & Gout News: Hereditary Fructose Intolerance

Causes

Does Gout Go Away?

Higher levels of omega-3 acids in the blood increases life expectancy by almost five years

Hyperuricemia as a potential plausible risk factor for periodontitis

Abstract

In-hospital cardiac procedures up for those with gout, rheumatoid arthritis

Wearable sweat sensor detects gout-causing compounds

Gout Questions and Answers

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)