An Overview of Gout Prevention
Doctors cannot always explain why one person gets gout and another person does not. However, gout research scientists have studied the general patterns of gout in the population to learn what things around us, and what things we do in our lives, may increase our chances of having a gout attack.
Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor.
Gout prevention means knowing
gout risk factors, then doing something about the ones that you can control.
Gout Prevention: Know the Risk Factors
The first step in preventing gout is knowing what the risk factors for gout are. Some gout risk factors can be avoided, but many cannot. For example, men are more likely to develop gout, a risk factor which obviously cannot be changed.
Studies have identified the following gout risk factors:
- A family history of gout
- Being male
- Being overweight or obese (see BMI Calculator to learn if your weight is within a healthy range)
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Eating too many foods rich in purines (see Gout Diet for foods high in purines)
- Being exposed to lead in the environment
- Having had an organ transplant
- Having any of the following conditions:
- Using some medicines, including:
- Diuretics (water pills)
- Salicylates, such as aspirin
- Niacin (nicotinic acid, Niaspan®, Niacor®, Nicolar®)
- Cyclosporine (Gengraf®, Neoral®, Sandimmune®)
- Levodopa (Larodopa®).
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