New Gout Study

New Gout Study

All gout patients and their doctors need to be aware of a surprising new study from the University of Pittsburgh.

Researchers followed more than 9,000 healthy, middle-aged men for 16 years. At the outset of the study, none of the subjects had heart disease. Results showed that subjects with gout were significantly more likely to die from a heart attack compared to those without gout.

The study was led by Dr. Eswar Krishnan, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, who told Reuters Health: “Our approach to patients with gout should be similar to our approach to diabetics.”

This study didn’t include women, so the effect of gout on heart health in women is still unknown. By some estimates, only about 10 percent of all gout patients are women.

You can find more information about gout and non-drug treatments for this condition in the e-Alert “On Your Toes” (5/9/05) at this link:
http://www.hsionline.com/ealerts/ea200505/ea20050509.html