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Greetings!
The Gout & Uric Acid Education Society is committed to raising public awareness about gout and arming health care professionals, like you, with resources to share with patients and the most up-to-date information about gout and diagnosis and treatment.
As you may have seen in our previous newsletters, we have introduced a series of educational comics to help raise awareness about the severity of gout.
There are a number of risk factors for gout. High uric acid or hyperuricemia is one of them. Hyperuricemia is defined as an elevated uric acid level above 6.8 mg/dL. The best range for uric acid is 3-6 mg/dL. This level can be checked with a simple blood test. Patients who having a high uric acid level and regularly consume alcohol, especially beer, could be putting themselves at risk for a painful gout attack.
Stay tuned for the December newsletter when another comic will educate on gout and debunk common gout myths.
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Gout and Diabetes
November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Gout is closely linked to a number of other serious health conditions, including diabetes.
Preliminary research suggests that insulin resistance may play a role in the development of gout and that hyperuricemia may worsen insulin resistance.
Controlling blood sugar will help diabetic patients manage their UA level and make their gout easier to control. Poor blood circulation in the limbs may also cause a buildup of UA in the joints that may
contribute to diabetes in gout patients.
It is important for gout patients to control their weight with proper diet and exercise to manage their disease and other contributing risk factors.
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