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maybe gout...now worried about dying

Posted , 3 users are following.

oliver88878
oliver88878

Have just had the 'gone to A and E with a broken toe that isn't.' Now waiting for blood test. In the meantime I have been browsing this forum. I would like to know whether there is a known  link between heart disease and gout or whether it is one of those stats things i.e. people who drink a skinny latte a day live longer (because you have statistically isolated a cohort of middle class people with private health care and gym membership). To put it another way: Does a high uric acid level damage the heart? or is it that fat drunks tend to keel over in their sixties?

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0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • rustygecko
    rustygecko oliver88878

    Posted

    Untreated hyperuricemia is very unhealthy. High blood urate doesn't mean that sure as eggs are eggs you'll get a heart attack, but your risk *long term* is very elevated.

    It would therefore be a good idea to get to a good weight, do some exercise, give up sugary drink, reduce alcohol consumption, and take a blood urate lowering therapy such as allopurinol.

    Btw the blood test if taken during a gout flare may well show your blood urate as normal. The flare itself reduces blood urate.

  • alex247
    alex247 oliver88878

    Posted

    Lots of people have high blood urate without any symptoms. You could take this as a blessing and do as @rustygecko suggests. After you attack has gone. Go see your GP and get a uric acid blood test. This will give you more of an idea. If you are overweight your GP may suggest losing a few stone before taking Allopurinol as they did with me. 

     

  • rustygecko
    rustygecko oliver88878

    Posted

    Alex is right Oliver. Gout is a blessing in disguise. You know you have high blood urate and have a chance to lose the weight, increase your water intake etc and you will live to a ripe old age, or get run over by a bus. The vast majority never know until they have a heart attack / kidney stone or other health issue.
  • oliver88878
    oliver88878

    Posted

    Thank you for these useful comments.I will certainly chase up my GP,  since this does appear to be more important than an occasional sore toe. However, I still am interested to know whether there is a proven link between high uric acid levels and heart disease. If not then taking lifelong medication is something I would rather not do (and in fact pointless in a cause and effect sense). Presumably living better: more water and less meat, will reduce the level anyway and be heart friendly. I am very physically active and not (that) fat for a fifty ish year old by the way.
    • alex247
      alex247 oliver88878

      Posted

      No one wants to take medications. And you might not need to depending on your current weight / BMI and how much you need to lose to be considered healthy + water intake and diet. However, lots of people take daily supplements for vitamins and minerals and think nothing of it. Try to think of it like that, it's essentially the same.  

      Allopurinol is proven drug that came out in the 60/70s and has great success with a side effect of lowering cholesterol to boot.

      Beleive me, I feel what you're going through. I'm in the same situation as yourself and currently on a weight loss program. 

      It's also something hard to call without knowing how high your normal uric acid level is and you age. 

      I have read studies that people with gout have a higher risk of heart disease but, I honestly believe this statistic is related to the people how don't take action and lose weight and change their lifestyles.  Like people who are considered obese are statistically more likely to have heart disease, but the people that lose weight and get out of that category have removed themselves from that statistic. 

      Don't dwell on it too much, just make the changes to your life that's needed. 

      I'm sure @rustygecko will be along to correct anything I've said. Its all relatively new to me but I've really tried to understand it so I can change my life. 

    • rustygecko
      rustygecko alex247

      Posted

      Alex

      More or less you are spot on.

      Here's something to go on with; I have some more recent research which confirms that hyperuricemia is the cause of disease (I have some much of this research catalogued I have to dig it out)... but this older research is bad enough:

      Gout, a metabolic disease associated with hyperuricaemia, leads to acute joint inflammation as part of a response to precipitation of urate crystals in the joint that commonly manifests as acute gout. Also, there is chronic inflammation around microtophi. Hyperuricaemia, a cardinal feature of gout, is associated with endothelial dysfunction, which may contribute to the risk of heart disease in patients with gout. However, depending on the chemical microenvironment, uric acid may have antioxidant or pro-oxidant function. In addition, uric acid likely contributes to the oxidation of lipoproteins within atherosclerotic plaque, thus contributing to the progression of lesions in coronary arteries. Gout is associated with systemic inflammation. Markers of systemic inflammation, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C reactive protein, are often elevated during acute gouty arthritis and may even be raised in chronic active gouty arthritis.Studies have linked systemic inflammation to the risk of heart disease in other similar chronic systemic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

      Allopurinol is 50 years old and well understood. Unless you are Asia (esp Han Chinese Thai Korean), its safe. There is a *tiny* risk of serious skin problems in the beginning - so take 100mg for the first 15 days to check you're ok. If you start to shed skin - in copious quantities - stop - but it's the 1:million chance.

    • rustygecko
      rustygecko oliver88878

      Posted

      I'd add one more thing: if you were 93 you can think "well, why bother, when the risk is 10 years down the line?" But you, like me, are in your 50s, and with luck we're looking at another 30 years of sex drugs n rock n roll... or bowls and golf.

    • alex247
      alex247 rustygecko

      Posted

      Good info that Rusty. Be thankful you're not in your late 30s like me Oliver wink

       

  • oliver88878
    oliver88878

    Posted

    Thanks to both of you, I now have everything I need to pester my GP in about a month. Allopurinol and lifestyle tweaks seem like the best way to go. I like your style Rustygecko, but don't limit yourself: sex drugs rock'n'roll and bowls and golf.

  • Guest
    Guest oliver88878

    Posted

    Yes, be careful. I get gout and have died a few times. The last time I died I couldn't be revived, and have been dead a few months now. The good news is that I haven't had an attack since.

    Seriously, take the drugs and eat and drink what you want. If that doesn't work start to look at your diet. Enjoy life, as we all have to go at some point. Your better off dying at 70 after living a good life, than 90 and living like a monk. 

    • rustygecko
      rustygecko Guest

      Posted

      I agree with that advice.

      For the overwhelming majority- you take the tablet every morning and get on with life. Drink more water. Cut out sugars as far as possible. Don't go mad on alcohol.  Do more exercise. Lose a bit of weight. Forget about gout unless you have a twinge or need a blood test.

    • alex247
      alex247 Guest

      Posted

      My wife makes me live like a monk now. I have no choice. I'm sure it's for her benefit and not mine though smile

    • rustygecko
      rustygecko alex247

      Posted

      "Marriage might not make you live longer, it just seems like it." Anon.   :-D

    • Guest
      Guest rustygecko

      Posted

      Nope, the only water I drink is when I take the allupirinol, and I drink alcohol on a regular basis, albeit I don't binge. I am a vegi and don't have a sweet tooth, all the same I eat what I want and when I want it. To be fair, although I am retired I am still quite active and play golf 5 days a week. In actual fact I may be living the correct lifestyle without even trying LOL

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