Gout is Another Problem for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis can develop gout, according to a recent study. According to researcher Eric L. Matteson, MD, MPH, chair of the division of rheumatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Clinicians must also include this risk when they are evaluating patients with inflammatory arthritis even if they are aware that the patient has RA.

“There is a long-standing myth that patients with RA don’t develop gout. This is clearly not the case; they definitely do,” Matteson said. “We know that there is a gout epidemic fueled by overweight and diet factors. Even patients with RA are becoming heavier in recent years, likely in part because of better control of their RA. We also know that aspirin is less used today than in the past. Aspirin reduced uric acid, the accumulation of which is associated with gout. … It does seem that while RA patients get gout, they probably still don’t have it quite as much as patients without RA.”



Source-Medindia