About Gout
Gout is a type of arthritis. It often comes and goes, with attacks of pain, redness and swelling in one or more joints. People can go months or years without any symptoms, but suddenly start to have attacks. Over time these “attacks” may become more frequent and severe, even leading to joint damage. The big toe joint is often affected.
Gout is more common in men, but the risk of gout for women becomes greater after menopause.
What are the most common symptoms of gout?
The symptoms of gout almost always come in short attacks, occurring suddenly, often at night and without warning. Gout pain is normally more severe within the first 12 to 24 hours of an attack starting. The most common symptoms of gout include:
- Severe joint pain: This is often in the large joint of the big toe, the feet, ankles, knees, hands and or wrists.
- Lingering discomfort: You may continue to have some joint discomfort after the most severe pain starts to ease. This may last from a few days to a few weeks.
- Longer lasting pain in the joints from recurring gout attacks.
- Inflammation and redness. The affected joint or joints can become swollen, tender and red.
- Gouty Tophi:About one quarter of all gout sufferers develop a tophus (plural: tophi) on one or more of their joints. These hard bumps are the accumulation of uric acid crystals that often form at or near joints.
What causes gout?
Most people develop gout because either the body makes too much uric acid or the kidneys do not get rid of enough uric acid. The uric acid in your blood builds up, and crystals of it form in your joints. This causes inflammation (swelling and redness) and severe pain of the joints.
Gout can be caused by and is associated with a number of things. Some people are at risk because their parents or grandparents had gout. People who are overweight or regularly drink too much alcohol may also be at risk of gout. You may also develop gout because you have another medical condition, or because you are taking certain medications.
Eating and drinking some types of food can increase your risk of gout attacks. These include herring, anchovies, sardines, shellfish, red meat, liver, kidneys, alcoholic drinks, and sugary soda drinks.
What is the treatment for gout?
The most commonly prescribed medicines for long term prevention of gout attacks are allopurinol and febuxostat. They work by slowing down the body's ability to make uric acid. Lowering uric acid helps to reduce the frequency and severity of gout attacks.
Lesinurad, the investigational medication in some of the studies, is a new drug being tested for individuals with gout.
Colchicine is used by some people to relieve pain during gout attacks, and may also help to reduce swelling and redness. It can also help to prevent attacks of gout for the short term. If you have an adverse reaction or side effect with this medication, then alternative options such as naproxen (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication) are available. Unlike allopurinol, these types of medications only help to relieve the symptoms and do not 'treat' the cause of the gout, the amount of uric acid in your blood.
Making changes to your diet and being more active can also lower uric acid levels and may reduce the risk of future gout attacks.
These clinical research studies are being conducted as part of an ongoing program to evaluate and improve treatments for gout.
to find out if you may qualify to take part in a clinical research study.
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