Allopurinol

GOUT

By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy

We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca

The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.

As usual, the best ideas I get for these articles comes from our customers. I had someone come up to the drive-thru and ask me what I knew about the new gout pill. I had to admit I didn’t know anything about any new gout pill and I would look into it. When I did a little research I also found some recent information about Vitamin C and gout. Let’s talk a little bit about what gout is first.

A gout attack or acute gouty arthritis happens when uric acid comes out of solution and crystals form in the joints or tissue. Uric acid is a normal ingredient in your blood that is formed by the normal break down of cells. Uric acid is also formed when you eat proteins with purine in them. Foods high in purine include anchovies, asparagus, consommé, herring, meat gravies, mushrooms, mussels, organ meats, sardines and sweetbreads. Usually in gout there is an imbalance in how much uric acid is formed from your diet and how fast your kidneys can eliminate it. So, if you eat a lot of purine rich foods and drink a lot of alcohol (alcohol causes your body to make more uric acid and your kidneys to eliminate less) you could get gout. Or if your kidneys don’t eliminate uric acid very well, you could get gout. Or if you inherited a gene that causes your body to make way too much uric acid you could get gout.

Symptoms of gout can happen suddenly. Most often you get a very sore joint suddenly. It often happens in the joint of the big toe, and often happens at...

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