Gout Pal Interactive

Back in May,

zip2play said:

My research has shown one antihypertensive regimen that lowers uric acid.  I will repeat it here.

It involves the use of two antihypertensive drugs, furosemide and losartan, (Lasix and Cozaar) but they must be taken in a particular way: first take the Lasix (which causes brisk diuresis) and then several hours later, take the Cozaar which causes uric acid elimination. Dosage of both drugs is titrated to get reasonable blood pressure control. Needless to say, people with NORMAL BP should not use this regimen.

The study confirming this regimen is small but rather convincing, but studies showing the uricosuric effect of losartan are all over the net. It;s the ONLY antihypertensive with this capability but used alone its effect is not large.

The name of the study is “Effects of the uricosuric action by losartan on the patients taking furosemide”, and the results show clearly in the chart above.

Read the rest of this entry »

100% Of GoutPal Can Stay

Why do gout sufferers need to know about chocolate?
Because my news page just told me that chocolate can lower blood pressure, and for nearly half of all gout patients that is good news.

I told you about high blood pressure (hypertension) and gout sufferers in my second newsletter ^(*). I am one of the 49% of gout sufferers who also have high blood pressure.

Journal of the American Medical Association has recently reported about research into Effects of Low Habitual Cocoa Intake on Blood Pressure. They found that eating 6.3g of dark chocolate for 18 weeks:
reduced average blood pressure
did not increase body weight, fatty acids or glucose.
reduced the number of participants with hypertension from 86 to 68 in every hundred

Blood pressure of participants who ate white chocolate did not change.

The authors conclude that:

small amounts of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate as part of a usual diet efficiently reduced BP (blood pressure)

So that 100g bar of 70% choccy that I just ate should have done me some good?

---

^(*)If you have not read about hypertension in gout sufferers, you should subscribe to my newsletter. You will get a link to the back issues when you do. Look for the second issue.

Uric acid levels can be affected by drugs taken for high blood pressure (hypertension). Research shows that some ARB drugs can lower uric acid levels, but the effects depend on dosage.