Allopurinol Uric Acid And Cardiovascular Health

This investigation of over one thousand allopurinol takers, shows that less than half the gout patients achieved safe uric acid levels. In general, there were no risks of heart disease from taking allopurinol, but significant differences showed between low dose (100mg) and high dose (at least 300mg). At high doses of allopurinol, there is a significantly lower risk of heart disease and death.

Title:

Impact of allopurinol use on urate concentration and cardiovascular outcome.

Authors:

Wei L, Mackenzie IS, Chen Y, Struthers AD, MacDonald TM.

Published:

Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2011 Apr;71(4):600-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2010.03887.x.

Leave Allopurinol Uric Acid And Cardiovascular Health to browse the Gout Disease pages

Can Uric Acid Go Too Low?

An investigation summarizing the benefits to gout patients if they start uric acid lowering treatment with a very low target. This reduces the time it takes to get rid of old uric acid crystals, but raises speculation that there could be negative effects if uric acid goes too low.

Fortunately, the author shows how there are no known ill-effects of very low uric acid levels, so you can set your target as low as you like.

Title:

Reassessing serum urate targets in the management of refractory gout: can you go too low?

Author:

Hershfield MS.

Published:

Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2009 Mar;21(2):138-42.

Probenecid: 2 Ways To Fight Gout

Probenecid lowers uric acid by encouraging the kidneys to excrete more. It has many other effects on compounds passing through the body. This report explains that it reduces a protein that encourages inflammation – a second bonus for gout patients.

Title:

Probenecid, a gout remedy, inhibits pannexin 1 channels.

Authors:

Silverman W, Locovei S, Dahl G.

Published:

Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2008 Sep;295(3):C761-7.

Probenecid Prescribing Label

Probenecid information from the manufacturers describing what it is, how to use it, and when not to use it.

Milk Good For Gout - Soy Bad

Milk- and soy-protein ingestion: acute effect on serum uric acid concentration. Mar 1991, Garrel DR et al. The uricosuric effect of milk proteins reduce blood uric acid concentration, but with soy protein this effect is offset by the high purine levels.

Milk can be incorporated into your diet as part of your plan to beat gout. See the Gout Treatment section for other food-based gout cures.

Morin: Uricosuric & Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor

The Dual Actions of Morin (3,5,7,2′,4′-Pentahydroxyflavone) as a Hypouricemic Agent: Uricosuric Effect and Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitory Activity. Jan 2006, Zhifeng Yu et al. Morin, found in figs and other fruit, reduces uric acid in rats.

Morin from figs or mulberry tea, are examples of foods that can be used as uric acid lowering gout treatments. See the Gout Treatment section for other food-based gout cures.

Vitamin C Reduces Uric Acid

The Effects of Vitamin C Supplementation on Serum Concentrations of Uric Acid. June 2005, Han-Yao Huang et al. Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), showing that 500mg/day vitamin C for 2 months reduces blood uric acid, with better reductions for higher uric acid.

Vitamin C can help as a gout treatment, and there are other natural products that can be used as gout cures.

Vitamin C And Uric Acid

The investigation reveals a very important point about vitamin C and uric acid – the higher the starting point, the better the reduction. But even with the benefits of vitamin C, uric acid level is unlikely to drop enough for most gout sufferers.

The investigation breaks the subjects down to many different subgroups, with varying starting levels of uric acid in the blood. Though there are different absolute changes in uric acid, vitamin c achieves a fairly constant percentage reduction of around 10%. In this context, for effective treatment with vitamin c, uric acid needs to start at 5.5mg/dL (0.33mmol/L) for a 10% reduction to achieve a satisfactory target of 5mg/dL (0.30mmol/L). Of course, this might mean that, for higher starting levels of uric acid, vitamin C can make a contribution to a combination treatment program, but you must always get regular blood tests to make sure you stay in the safe zone.