John Botson, MD: Understanding Gout and How to Treat It

John Botson, MD

The American College of Rheumatology recently released guidelines with recommendations for the treatment of gout.

The condition is not considered an episodic disease, John Botson, MD, a clinical rheumatologist in Anchorage, Alaska, said in a recent interview with HCPLive®. In the past, gout has been looked at as a red, hot, swollen toe and it was important to just treat the episode and once it went away, the specialist and patient did not have to worry about it unless the patient experienced more pain.

“And that’s completely opposite of the way we think about gout now,” Botson said.

Now, specialists know gout is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect the whole body, with comorbidities such as heart disease, metabolic problems, and weight gain potentially coming into play. The way gout is thought about now, the standard of care has changed from episodic treatment to something similar to prophylactic treatment.

Gout now gets treated similarly to how a healthcare provider would manage a patient’s high blood pressure before they have a heart attack or a stroke. Gout attacks are managed to prevent a patient from having further complications. Tophaceous deposits or high serum urate levels are treated more aggressively with a daily medication as a more targeted approach to care.

To learn more about how gout is being treated, watch the video interview with Botson below.