The deadly gout risk all patients need to know about

No matter what you want to call it — the “disease of kings,” “gouty arthritis,” or just plain “gout” – when you get an attack, you know how incredibly painful it can be.

But as grueling as gout is, Big Pharma has managed to make it even worse.

Uloric – which is prescribed to lower uric acid levels — is one of the common Rx treatments for this excruciating condition, and it’s been under the FDA’s supposed scrutiny for years now.

The agency even issued a “safety communication” last November about how the med can increase your risk of dying from heart disease.

But I don’t think a lot of doctors got that memo, because Takeda Pharmaceuticals is still raking in the cash with its dangerous drug, all while patients are being left in the dark.

Now, a consumer group has filed a petition telling the FDA in no uncertain terms that Uloric is just too risky to take… and should be immediately removed from the market.

And since there are plenty of natural, safe, and effective treatments for gout, the only ones who are going to miss this drug are the pharma executives making a mint off of selling it!

‘Unique, serious risks’

The way Uloric got approved proves the old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

Because after a two-strike rejection by the agency, the drugmaker managed to hit a home run the third time at bat and get the med on the market nine years ago.

Despite giving their blessing, however, the feds were still concerned about Uloric’s potential to trigger heart attacks, strokes, and other “heart-related” deaths. So, they asked Takeda to conduct one of those preposterous post-marketing studies I’ve told you about before. That’s where millions take a drug, and then the drugmaker and the agency compare notes years later to see just how dicey it turned out to be in real life.

Well, the results of that research were finally published this March… and as I told you back then, it didn’t look good. Compared to another risky gout med called allopurinol, instead of just being a hazard to your heart, it turned out that deaths associated with Uloric were higher from all causes.

Where the FDA is concerned, however, those findings appear to be nothing more than simply some paperwork to file away.

But just last week, Public Citizen filed a petition with the agency demanding that Uloric be removed from the market. The group summed up their findings by saying the drug “poses unique, serious risks – some fatal” and yet offers no “unique benefit” in treating gout.

Knowing the FDA’s track record when dire warnings of this sort are concerned, though, it’s unlikely that officials there will lift a finger to restrict Uloric sales.

But regardless of what the agency does or doesn’t do, there’s no reason in the world for you to take a risk with this drug – or any other Rx for gout – when safe treatments that can really make a difference are so easily available.

For example:

• Cherries and tart cherry juice have long been known to be excellent ways of lowering uric acid levels and reducing the risk of an attack. While eating cherries can help — one study discovered that it only took 10 of them a day to cut gout flares in half — you can also buy liquid tart cherry extract any time of the year. A tablespoon twice a day has been found to be all it takes to get results.
• Apple cider vinegar (one to two tablespoons) mixed into water and sipped during the day is another excellent way to stave off a gout attack.
• Vitamin C, taken at around 1,500 mg a day, also lowers uric acid levels.

And if you’re not drinking enough water, especially during these hotter summer months, you could be setting yourself up for dehydration and a painful buildup of uric acid. Preventing gout doesn’t get much simpler (or cheaper) than that!

Other ways to keep uric acid levels as low as possible are to avoid otherwise-nutritious foods that are especially high in naturally occurring chemical compounds called purines. These include liver and other organ meats, certain seafoods (such as shellfish, sardines, and tuna), mushrooms, and even some veggies (such as asparagus and spinach).

Also, be sure to eliminate any added fructose — such as HFCS, agave syrup, and crystalline fructose – from your diet and lower your sugar intake as much as possible.

“FDA pressured to revoke Takeda’s popular gout drug Uloric due to death concerns” Angus Liu, June 21, 2018, FiercePharma, fiercepharma.com