Gout Pal Interactive

The advice that most family practitioners give gout patients is much like it was 25 years ago.    However, there is a lot of research that has been done which could help gout sufferers with their gout and goutcare.   The gout-related websites fill the gap some but really we need someone, skilled in medicine, to update the advice that most practitioners give their patients.  We need the medical establish to update the guidance they give based on the latest research.   Most practitioners follow the mainstream medical journals.   If we could get some answers and find some new advice on better ways to deal with gout (and maybe other arthridies) and then get it published in those journals, we could improve the care of gout-sufferers, inconceivably.  I suggest a webpage where people could put what they would like to ask organizations like the American Medical Association.

I can think of some questions that I would like evaluated based on research done in the last twenty five years?

(1) In following a diet, what attention should be paid to iron-rich foods?   Should we be including foods that inhibit iron absorption?

(2) Is there an advantage to reducing the iron levels in our bodies in avoiding gout attacks and in lowering inflammation by regular blood donations?

(3) In our diets, should we including more L-Argenine rich foods since L-Argenine has been shown to help with hyperuricemia?

(4) Since obstructive sleep apnea has been shown to contribute to the development of gout, shouldn't medical practitioners be counselled to screen for it more closely?

(5) When blood tests show high uric acid levels, shouldn't practitioners counsel the patient to increase his/her water consumption?    In other words, treat the higher uric acid levels as a sign of underconsumption of water.  

Frankly, I consider this some very legitimate questions.  If the other gout-related websites did the same, maybe we could get some answers.

Post edited 9:00 pm – March 10, 2010 by zip2play

I never saw it either.

I'll field a couple as I see them.

1.) Yes, for men some attention should be given to limiting iron consumption…becasue we cannot get rid of it.. Inhibition of iron after it is ingested seems a lot more difficult than not ingesting it in the first place. For men, donate blood regularly, although I am not sure the gout-iron connection is solidly made but I am reasonably sure that iron is atherosclerrotic.

2.) Not sure

3.) L-arginine is an overhyped amino acid popularized by the silly “research” of the Life Extension kooks., Sandy Shaw and what's his name. We get far more arginine in protein rich foods than we get from pricey supplements. Taking amino acids separately is a waste of money.

4.) I have not seen any cause and effect or even correlation between sleep apnea and gout. With obesity, yes, and heart disease, yes.

5.) The amount of water in the bloodstream is regulated SOLELY by the amount of sodium and sodium only. Veer a little high or a little low and death ensues pretty rapidly. So, no, trying to dilute uric acid in the blood is not realistic. However, to avoid kidney stones, of which urate stones are a category, then extra water will keep solutes in the urine is solution.

Two questions I'd like to ask any doctor:

1. How much time did you spend studying gout in med school?

2. Do you think the range of NORMAL uric acid on lab printouts is of any relevance in gout treatment?