Gout News

Approximately 26% of patients with gout are commonly prescribed colchicine prophylaxis despite already using medications with potential interactions, according to data published in Rheumatology.

DESTIN, Fla. — Patients with gout should be continually reminded that urate-lowering therapy may go on for the rest of their life, according to a speaker at the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology East annual meeting.

The month of May serves as Arthritis Awareness Month, drawing attention to this all-too common, yet misunderstood, condition.

Approximately 23% of patients with chronic kidney disease meet the criteria for gout, of whom 13% have uncontrolled gout and 36% have no formal gout diagnosis, according to data published in Gout, Urate, and Crystal Deposition Disease.

Among adults with arthritis, severe joint pain is significantly more prevalent in Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native patients vs. white patients, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Patients with higher baseline serum urate levels demonstrate increased recurrent gout hospitalization rates and subsequent risk for flare over 10 years of follow-up, according to data published in JAMA.

Excess risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with gout — including heart failure and arrhythmias — is highest among women and those aged younger than 45 years, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Among patients with rheumatic diseases, the risk for cardiovascular comorbidity is highest during the period immediately before or after initial diagnosis, according to data published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.

The risk for gout flare when initiating urate lowering therapy varies based on the drug and dosing strategy used, according to a systematic review and network meta-analysis published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Weather changes are not risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis or knee, hip or low back pain, but do appear to influence gout flares, according to a meta-analysis published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.