#brownout4gout

[Keith Taylor (GoutPal Admin)]

Spread gout awareness on twitter and beyond with #brownout4gout

ALLopurinol & ColCRYs save ALL from CRYing. Spread the awareness of the pain gout brings to thousands! #brownout4gout pic.twitter.com/BIeyNs15FC

— Branden Crowl (@BrandenCrowl) November 2, 2014

If you cannot see the tweet in your browser, see https://twitter.com/BrandenCrowl/status/528927382795587587

[Keith Taylor (GoutPal Admin)]

I changed to a brown shirt and drank brown beer in support:

#brownout4gout #GoutPal @BrandenCrowl Swapped my shirt for a brown one. Don't need brown now cos white #allopurinol stopped my #gout

— Keith Taylor (@keithtaylor) November 3, 2014

If you cannot see my reply in your browser, see https://twitter.com/keithtaylor/status/529083010772393984

[Keith Taylor]

I’m no twitter expert, but I dabble from time to time, and join the gout discussions. #brownout4gout grabbed my attention, as does anything that raises gout awareness.

I’m not sure what I can do, beyond changing shirt color, but I hope BrandenCrowl might join us here to give me some tips. It’s very easy if you are already on Twitter. Simply click the twitter bird icon near top right, and that logs you in to this forum.

[Keith Taylor]

This tweet exchange with Branden Crowl just got even more interesting.

@keithtaylor Need a CURE, not a "treatment." It's a kidney issue, not just a diet issue. #brownout4gout

— Branden Crowl (@BrandenCrowl) November 3, 2014

Branden said “Need a CURE, not a “treatment.” It’s a kidney issue, not just a diet issue.” I’m assuming the diet remark refers to me mentioning beer. I only did that because I was actually drinking brown beer in that picture. It was a pointless reference for gout, but I made it because this is #brownout4gout.

I probably don’t understand #brownout4gout properly, but I’m always happy to support anything that raises gout awareness. I understand gout a lot more than I understand Twitter!

I’ve responded with “if kidney issue genetic, you can’t cure parents. If diet, other meds, or environment you *might* cure #gout. It’s personal.” at https://twitter.com/keithtaylor/status/529191735579406337

. @BrandenCrowl if kidney issue genetic, you can't cure parents. If diet, other meds, or environment you *might* cure #gout. It's personal.

— Keith Taylor (@keithtaylor) November 3, 2014

I’m just going to switch to admin mode so I can embed the twitter posts, then I’ll explain more about what I mean by that.

[Keith Taylor]

Many published gout articles claim that gout cannot be cured, only controlled.

Though this might be true for some gout sufferers, it is not a universal truth. Wherever gout is secondary to another health problem, there is always a chance that gout can be cured by curing or controlling that other condition.

Before I look at the cases where gout might be controlled, it helps to understand why gout happens.

Branden has referred to a kidney issue. Kidney problems are often a cause of gout, where insufficient uric acid is passed from the body in urine. We call this under-excretion. Commonly, there is another major cause of gout where the liver produces too much uric acid. We call this over-production.

Recently, some scientists have advocated a third group of gout causes (Gout Causes Report). This recognizes that uric acid should be excreted via the gut as well as via the kidneys. If there is a fault in this mechanism, then this represents a third group of gout causes.

Note that these are not discrete groups, and it is possible for a gout patient to be any combination of uric acid over-producer, kidney under-excreter, or gut under-excreter.

In all these groups, there are specific causes that lead to one or more of the 3 problems. All of these can be controlled by allopurinol or Uloric, which lower uric acid by inhibiting it’s production. For some people, other gout treatments that encourage uric acid excretion are suitable. For most doctors, these treatments are all that is offered, because identifying curable underlying causes is usually very difficult.

There are common situations where gout is cured. The one I have heard about most is cancer related. The combination of cancer treatments and associated rapid weight loss often causes gout. However, once weight stabilizes, and cancer treatment is completed, gout goes away. Another common situation where gout is cured arises when diuretics are replaced with different forms of treatment for high blood pressure. The most common cases of curable gout are simple bad diet. Where the first gout attack shocks individuals into eating healthily, and bad diet is the only problem, then gout can be cured.

For most patients, where it is hereditary, gout cannot be cured – only controlled. In future, genetic engineering treatments might allow our genetic defects to be cured, but that is for the future. However, if underlying causes can be identified and controlled, then gout is cured. Such underlying causes require detailed personal investigation into possible causes in one or more of the following:

• Medication for other health problems
• Exposure to one or more 5 Bad Gout Foods
• Environmental toxins such as lead, mercury, and other inorganic or organic pollutants

Specific factors in those groups can cause over-production or under-excretion of uric acid. Removing those factors will reduce the reliance on gout treatments. In some cases, gout treatment can be withdrawn completely. Sometimes temporary treatment is required until permanent removal of underlying causes is effected.

This shows how gout treatment can be very complicated, and must be planned on a personal case-by-case basis.

[Author]

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