#‘Alarming’ rise in gout cases, all thanks to big, indulgent appetites

The coronavirus isn’t the only beneficiary of modern man’s hedonistic lifestyle.

Incidents of gout — a type of arthritis characterized by severe joint pain and tenderness — have increased at “alarming” rates worldwide in recent years thanks to dietary over-indulgence, according to a new study published this in the journal “Arthritis & Rheumatology.”

“The pace of increase was astonishing,” wrote the University Of Sydney team, who compiled newly released data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study (GBD).

According to the research, there were a bone-aching 41.2 million global cases of the inflammatory ailment in 2017, marking a 5.5% uptick since 1990. The analysis also revealed that there were approximately 7.4 million new cases of gout each year — or around 92 new cases for every 100,000 people, SciTech Daily reported. 

Often deemed an affliction of the rich during medieval times, the rheumatic “disease of kings” was found to disproportionately affect developed regions with a record 26.9% rise in North America alone, researchers said. The leading cause of years lived with disability (YLD) due to gout was body mass index, and the US leads the pack of overweight nations with obesity affecting a staggering 36.2% of its adult population, according to Britannica Procon.

Meanwhile, impaired kidney function accounted for approximately 15.3%, with higher YLDs recorded in males for both of the aforementioned risk factors.

Other risk factors include alcohol and red meat consumption, diabetes, heart conditions and old age — all of which are prevalent in the Western world, researchers reported.

In fact, gout is so prevalent among elderly men that researchers had to adjust the results for age so their study wouldn’t be skewed. “The increasing trend of gout burden is most likely to continue as the global aging population is on the rise,” said the new study’s senior author, Emma Smith, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney, in a press release.

Coupled with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle during COVID-19 lockdown, and we might’ve created a potential perfect storm for the arthritic affliction to flourish.

And unfortunately, the complications aren’t limited to achy joints. Gout can lead to permanent joint damage as well as kidney failure and eventual death, according to the American Kidney Fund.

“Attempts to lessen the disease onset and future burden of gout require better awareness, especially of risk factors, and early diagnosis and treatment,” Smith said.