Gout Pal Interactive

Not a day goes by without a request for gout food lists.

How I wish it were so simple.

But it’s my job to make it simple.

So here is a simple explanation of gout and food.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to WouteR for this image

Gout sufferers know how good water is.

1. Water reduces uric acid concentration, lowering the risk of pain-inducing crystals forming.
2. Water helps flush excess uric acid, and many toxic gout treatments, from the body.

Two - Nil is brilliant.

Where’s the third one coming from?

I’ve had a recent email exchange with a long-term gout sufferer who reckons he has found a new way to combat gout with water.

Read the rest of this entry »

I not only suffer gout.

Now aspirin has driven me insane.

First, let me refer you to my article about aspirin and gout. I thought this was a great piece of news for gout sufferers who have been worried about low-dose aspirin, commonly taken to reduce the risks of stroke and heart disease.

I always intended to research this further, and add it to the gout research section at GoutPal.com. Today I learned that my link to the original presentation abstract was faulty. I decided to complete my review of aspirin and gout and improve my report.

That’s when aspirin started driving me mad.

Read the rest of this entry »

I wonder what’s so special about Monday and gout.

Is it due to weekend excesses?

More importantly (to me anyway) is will it repeat this week?

Is it a result of more diagnosis of gout on Monday as it’s the first chance that sufferers have had to see a doctor?

So if it’s still Monday, and you’re looking for gout information, why not let us know what’s so special about Monday to you.

Sorry for some delays at the moment, but I’m moving home.

Boring affects on my gout sites are:

• Can’t access email at blueyonder. If you’ve sent anything to that address recently, please send again via goutpal.com. If you don’t have my private email address, send a message via my contact form (but see next point also)
• My internet access is hit and miss, so I can’t answer private emails everyday. Public emails are also slow (e.g. contact forms, forum private messages), simply because I don’t have much internet access time
• Comments may take a few days for me to approve, but if you register, they should appear straight away.
• Gout Forum posts may take a few days for me to approve, but if you register, they should appear straight away.

Most unfortunately, I will probably not have time to do any research. If your question is straightforward, I’ll try to answer it straight away. If not, it will probably get caught up in the backlog. If you don’t get an answer within a couple of months, please try again. Remember, it is always best, and quickest, to post your gout questions in the Gout Forum.

Where do you go for gout diagnosis?

You might think that any qualified doctor could tell if you have gout, but even your doctor is not sure.

In a recent survey of different types of physicians, only rheumatologists are 100% certain that they can diagnose gout.

This supports my advice that you should always consult a rheumatologist if you have gout, or show any gout symptoms.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whilst looking for information about uric acid, I came across an interesting piece about Alzheimer’s disease and uric acid.

In the article, Mathilda refers to some recent research about uric acid as a potential cure for Alzheimer’s, or at least a way to hold the progression of the disease.

The research in this article follows on from a piece I did last year explaining how uric acid could reduce nerve damage. The researcher, Professor Firestein, pointed out to me that maintaining an adequate level of uric acid in the body is important.

There are a few more important points about uric acid, Alzheimer’s disease and related medical conditions and treatments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

You see lots of gout information, but how much is written just for you?

You might not realize, but the whole of GoutPal.com is driven by your needs and desires.

I like to analyze visitor numbers, but mainly I respond to your requests - especially when you write them in the Gout Forum (now no registration required).

It is by far the easiest way to communicate, and I really missed it when my ISP let me down. Now that I’m back in business on a new server, I will continue to manually transfer old popular gout information. I will also try to catch up on the avalanche of emails I received during the time my server was crippled.

My priority will be to respond to your forum requests, but I am also interested in what my visitors find interesting, even if you leave no comments.

I plan to add a weekly and monthly summary of popular gout information from GoutPal.com. For the first week in April, these are:

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to The Wellness Site for this image

I’d never heard of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) until a recent question from a gout sufferer suggested a link with gout and PKD.

Coincidentally, I spotted a PKD article on my Gout Related News Page, entitled “Potential New Treatments For Polycystic Kidney Disease”.

As you may know, the Gout News Page contains an automatically updated feed from Medical News Today. As well as gout news, I include other topics of interest to gout sufferers. As PKD has been mentioned recently in the Gout Forum, I was drawn to this article.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rumours of my demise are exaggerated.

Not only am I still alive and kicking, but I’ve resurrected this blog.

There’s hope for a bright future on a new server. Thanks to all who’ve helped with this - I’ll write more soon.

In the meantime, there are a few bugs that have crept in during moving this site. They may also affect links on GoutPal.com.

If you spot anything, please let me know.

Also, please let me know what is most important to you. I always give priority to your needs.