An
increasing numbers of qualified medical practitioners are recognizing
pain relief treatments that do not involve drugs. These are included in
the Alternatives section, but I recommend that you discuss any treatment
for
gout that you are considering with your doctor, even if it is a
non-medical treatment.
Long term
treatments for preventing
gout attacks are aimed at uric acid
management. Specifically,
uric acid must be lowered below 6mg/dL to have
any effect. Lower doses may slow the spread of
gout, but they will not
stop
uric acid crystals building up to the point where tophi develop and
joint damage occurs. Whatever treatment for gout you and your doctor
decide upon, it is vital that you have regular
uric acid level checks.
uric acid
treatments fall into two camps - those aimed at blocking production of
uric acid, and those aimed at encouraging its excretion.
Reducing Uric Acid Production
The most common treatment for
gout is to try to prevent the production
of
uric acid. At the moment, the only significant
uric acid inhibitor is
Allopurinol, though new drugs are being developed. The new drugs include
Febuxostat, which works in a similar way to
allopurinol, and Puricase
which converts
uric acid to a more soluble compound, allantoin.
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Guide tips for gout diet