Of all my patients, Gout sufferers have the poorest compliance. This is possibly due to the episodic nature of the disease: a case of out of plight, out of mind.
But Gout has other more serious consequences if not properly treated to target: renal and cardiovascular complications.
Education is key to align patients’ expectations with the doctors’ treatment goals in order to get buy in, and hopefully, better compliance.
The Gout & Uric Acid Education Society
New management tactics emerge for patients with difficult-to-treat gout
It used to be thought and taught that asymptomatic hyperuricaemia should not be treated, mainly out of concern for severe Allopurinol allergy.
In the light of mounting evidence that hyperuricaemia is linked to atherosclerosis and renal impairment, and that treatment can slow down and even reverse these pathologies, a treat to low serum uric acid level target strategy is now advocated.
For the more academically inquisitive, this research paper examines how the ubiquitous and seemingly innocuous urate crystals can trigger a violent inflammatory reaction.
