Gout

Gout attacks really do occur more often at night, and here is proof. Theories abound as to why, but effective prophylactic treatments to reduce the risk of nocturnal exacerbations appear to be just what the doctor ordered.

Horrifying laceration? Unbelievably large tumor? It's all there for viewing on a free medical app called Figure 1. Its software lets hundreds of thousands of medical professionals post clinical photos, confer on diagnoses, and show their own innovative work. The site has more than 100 million archived photos, all sent in by users, most of them physicians.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require manufacturers to update labels in order to red flag possible serious side effects associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Coming next from Medicare: the ICD-10 Obmudsman. Billing under the dreaded new International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) coding system will get a bit less onerous under a deal brokered between Medicare and the American Medical Association.

With 259 million painkiller prescriptions written in 2012 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of the most common side effects experienced by patients being treated for chronic pain is opioid-induced constipation (OIC).

A gout medication did not show significant statistical benefit in lowering flares associated with the condition.

Researchers will evaluate the safety, pharmacodynamic profile, and immunogenicity of pegsiticase for the treatment of painful refractory and tophaceous gout.

A large population study shows that people with gout may have a reduced risk of dementia -– including Alzheimer’s disease. This is a significant finding and may support theories that uric acid has antioxidant properties and possible neuroprotective effects.

Patients with gout may find relief from severe inflammatory pain due to recently explored peripheral system channels.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) may be a more common comorbidity than previously thought among patients with gout. Patients with gout may also be more likely to have severe ED.

Research shows febuxostat is more effective than allopurinol in reducing serum urate levels in patients with gout.

TV Host Mehmet Oz, MD has survived professionally despite criticism of his promotion of questionable weight loss remedies. In the latest assault, 10 physicians publicized a letter they wrote the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons' dean, protesting Oz's faculty appointment in the department of surgery.

Now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to start regulating a drug commonly prescribed to treat gout, many patients will no longer be able to afford the medication.

Critically ill patients with acute gouty arthritis who cannot be treated with standard therapy responded well to treatment with anakinra in a recent study.

Researchers report that gout may actually have a neuroprotective effect and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 24 percent.

In a study published in the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, investigators identified uric acid as a potential biomarker in the progression of multiple sclerosis disability.

For patients living with gout, the pain and discomfort associated with the condition can be relieved by widely available medications. According to a recent study, many patients in England are not getting the treatment they need to help them live symptom-free on a regular basis.

Although several medications and dietary factors have been implicated, as causes of gout, much of the risk of developing the condition is controlled through genetics, and the pathophysiology of the disease is incompletely understood.

For patients with hypertension, finding the right course of treatment can be critically important especially when other health factors are taken into consideration.

An endocrinologist from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland discusses the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, outlining the reasons why clinicians should target inflammation when treating diabetics.

Because they can share similar symptoms, gout and psoriatic arthritis are commonly misdiagnosed.

Trial results showed the anti-gout medication colchicine reduced the rate of pericarditis recurrence and hospitalization compared to placebo.

Adding uric acid to standard thrombolytic therapy may reduce the risk of disability among stroke patients.

While the use of acute, high-dose systemic corticosteroids probably has no clinically significant effect on wound healing, chronic systemic corticosteroids may impair postoperative healing in susceptible patients.

Examining the right foot of a 54-year-old male reveals a red, swollen, warm, and exquisitely tender right first toe joint. What is the differential diagnosis?

A pair of researchers based in Texas has gained valuable insight into the correlation between individual cell type in the tissues of gout patients and comorbidity factors of the chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder.

No studies had determined the genetic cause of early-onset gout cases until a group of Japanese researchers discovered a the same genomic dysfunction among the patients.

From full-motion video demonstrations of orthopedic clinical tests to suites of disease activity score calculators, these apps for Google and Apple mobile devices provide rheumatologists with useful and easy-to-access information at crucial moments in diagnosis and treatment.

Despite hopes that rilonacept might provide a better alternative to NSAIDs or colchicines for gout pain, it does not provide significant relief either on its own or as an add-on therapy to indomethacin.

Forty percent of patients treated with the uricase drug pegloticase saw complete resolution of one or more gouty tophi within 25 weeks.