Gout

I applaud the authors of the 2020 American College of Rheumatology guideline for their comprehensive and thoughtful document on the management of gout.

Despite its increased cost in the United States, colchicine use to prevent gout flares while starting treatment with allopurinol remains “very cost effective,” according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Lifestyle approaches, including physical activity and smoking cessation, should complement medical therapy in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to data presented at the EULAR 2020 E-Congress.

Losing weight from young adulthood into midlife is associated with a substantially reduced risk for arthritis, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Serious infections are responsible for 1 in 10 gout hospitalizations, with sepsis being the most common diagnosis among serious-infection hospitalizations for patients with gout, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Gout is associated with an increased risk for heart failure among adults aged 65.5 years and older, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

The homepage of the Alliance for Gout Awareness offers a clear and simple message for visitors to the site: “Reducing stigma and empowering patients.” A cursory scroll through the materials and information available support this message, with most of the links and portals on the website providing patients and providers with tools to help meet these goals.

Allopurinol is not associated with improving biomarkers of kidney damage in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia and stage 3 chronic kidney disease, according to a published post-hoc analysis.

Colchicine treatment increases the rate of diarrhea and adverse gastrointestinal events, but not liver, sensory, muscle, infectious or hematological events, or death, according to the results of a meta-analysis published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Among individuals with European ancestry, genetic variants demonstrate a strong impact on gout risk in those with overweight or obese BMI, with a similar effect seen in those with normal or low BMI, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.