{"id":16042,"date":"2021-05-07T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/squad\/?p=16042"},"modified":"2021-05-07T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T13:00:00","slug":"gout-arthritis-myths-vs-truths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wellness\/gout-arthritis-myths-vs-truths\/","title":{"rendered":"Gout Arthritis: Myths vs. Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gout is a form of arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of redness, severe pain, and tenderness in a joint. Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in a joint, causing swelling and intense pain known as gout attack. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the years, there have been some myths about this disease. This article intends to debunk those myths and reveal the facts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 1: Gout is a rare disease<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recent reports of the prevalence of gout worldwide, range from\u00a0 &lt;1% to 6.8%, and an incidence of 0.58\u20132.89 per 1,000 person yearly. In fact, gout is the most prevalent form of inflammatory arthritis in men aged &gt;40 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 2: Only obese people experience Gout<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Although obesity is a risk factor for gout, people of all sizes can develop it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 3: Gout only affects men<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Men are indeed more prone to develop gout because of their higher uric acid levels. Yet, it is not exclusive to men. About 3% to 6% of men in the U.S.\u00a0 develop this condition,\u00a0 and 1% to 2% of women do as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 4: Abstaining from liver and alcohol prevents gout attacks<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Alcoholic drinks and organ meats such as liver are very high in a class of natural substance known as \u2018purines.\u2019 The body breaks down purines to produce uric acid, so these foods can increase the risk of a gout attack. Avoiding these foods may reduce attacks, but it won&#8217;t halt them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 5: Gout only affects the big toe<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Gout can occur in any joint, although it often starts by attacking the joint of the big toe. The knee, ankle, elbow, wrist, and finger joints are also commonly affected.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 6: Consuming dairy products increases the risk for gout<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Studies have shown that intake of low-fat dairy has a moderate urate-lowering effect, and is associated with a reduced risk for developing gout.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Myth 7: No effective medications for gout<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), colchicine, and corticosteroids are effective in managing gout attacks. Xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs) block the production of uric acid, while uricosurics improve the kidney&#8217;s ability to remove uric acid from the body.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gout is a form of arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of redness, severe pain, and tenderness in a joint. Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in a joint, causing swelling and intense pain known as gout attack. Over the years, there have been some myths about this disease. This article intends to debunk those myths [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,690],"tags":[712,1229],"class_list":["post-16042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gout","category-wellness","tag-gout","tag-gout-treatments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}