February 8, 2023 – Gout in people whose brother, father, sister or mother has the condition is a type of arthritis that always causes sudden, severe pain within the joints. It is normally genetic, but can change into significantly worse if victims also drink rather a lot or are chubby.
Although gout can affect anyone, the chance is nearly two and a half times higher in someone who has a detailed relative in comparison with someone without an affected close relative.
The results of a recent study in South Korea examined the possible causes of gout when it runs in families, asking whether it’s genetic or whether it’s attributable to behaviors equivalent to high alcohol consumption or a possible lifestyle that may result in chubby or obesity.
Gout occurs when the extent of uric acid within the blood is simply too high. This results in the buildup of sharp crystals in and across the joints, causing sudden, severe attacks of pain, swelling, redness and tenderness in a number of joints, often in the massive toe.
More than 8 million Americans have goutand it occurs more continuously in men than in women.
The study, which published In Arthritis care and research, The Journal of the American College of Rheumatology also found that in individuals who have each a first-degree relative with gout and are chubby, the chance of gout increases to 4 to 6 times the chance of the final population with no family history of gout or with a high body mass index (BMI). The risk increases with the quantity of extra weight and is highest in people who find themselves obese or have a BMI of 30.0 or higher.
If someone is a heavy drinker and a detailed relative has gout, their risk is nearly thrice higher than that of the final population without gout or an inclination to heavy drinking.
The link with food and drinks arises from the buildup of uric acid within the blood, which is a breakdown product of purine, a chemical present in certain foods equivalent to beer and wine, liver and other organ meats, some seafood, and fructose-containing soft drinks.
“This suggests that most familial effects are actually genetic rather than due to shared environmental factors, and is an important finding,” says Dr Abhishek Abhishek, Professor of Rheumatology at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust within the UK.
“People who have a first-degree relative with gout should minimize their alcohol consumption and maintain a healthy body weight to reduce the risk of developing gout in the future,” he says.
Abhishek points out that “aggressive treatment of obesity and high alcohol consumption can prevent the onset of gout or improve the course in people who already have the disease.”
In individuals with an affected brother, the chance was thrice higher than in people without an affected brother. In people whose father had gout, the chance was almost 2.5 times higher, while in individuals with a sister with gout, the chance was almost twice as high. In people whose mother had gout, the chance was just over 1.5 times higher than in people whose mother didn’t have gout.
“People simply need to avoid alcohol to reduce the risk of gout. We can't choose our parents, so most of us should reduce our weight and minimize our alcohol consumption,” says Dr. Bruce Rothschild, professor of drugs at IU Health and research associate on the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, PA.