Causes of Gout

Information on Gout

What Increases the Risk of Gout?

Although there is no one specific cause of gout, there are a number of factors that can increase a person's chances of developing it. These are known as gout risk factors. Some of these risk factors increase the amount of uric acid produced; others decrease the amount removed from the body. Still others are a combination of these two.

Some risk factors for gout include:

Having family members with the disease. Up to 18 percent of people with gout have a family history of it.
Being a man.
Being overweight. This is because there is more tissue available for turnover or breakdown, which leads to excess uric acid production.
Drinking too much alcohol, since alcohol not only increases the amount of uric acid made, but also interferes with the removal of uric acid from the body.
Eating too many foods rich in purines (see Gout Diet for foods high in purines).
Having an enzyme defect that makes it hard for the body to break down purines. This can include conditions such as glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency and fructose-1-phosphate deficiency.
Having any of the following conditions:

Psoriasis
Diabetes insipidus
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Diabetic ketoacidosis or lactic acidosis
Sarcoidosis
Preeclampsia (also known as toxemia of pregnancy)
Down syndrome
Hypothyroidism.

Having kidney problems, including renal insufficiency or polycystic kidney disease.
Being exposed to lead in the environment.
Having had an organ transplant.
Using some medicines, such as:

Diuretics (also known as water pills), which are taken to eliminate excess fluid from the body in people with conditions like high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, and which decrease the amount of uric acid passed in the urine

Salicylates, or anti-inflammatory medicines made from salicylic acid, such as aspirin

Niacin (nicotinic acid, Niaspan^®, Niacor^®, Nicolar^®)

Cyclosporine (Gengraf^®, Neoral^®, Sandimmune^®), a medicine used to suppress the body's immune system (the system that protects the body from infection and disease) and control the body's rejection of transplanted organs

Levodopa (Larodopa^®), a medicine used to support communication along nerve pathways in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

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