Beating Gout: A Sufferer's Guide to Living Pain Free »

Beating Gout is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book designed for the gout sufferer. Recent research has shown that up to 78% of doctors do not treat gout properly. Historically, physicians have seen gout as a "benign" disease, but new research has shown that gout and its underlying cause, hyperuricemia, may cause heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, stroke and other deadly diseases. Beating Gout discusses all of these conditions and what you can do to stop gout attacks forever. Beating Gout sets the record straight on the best and most effective ways to treat gout attacks and manage gout's underlying condition, hyperuricemia. This book covers all aspects of the disease from its progression, diagnosis, treatment, to the latest research on diet and lifestyle choices that affect gout. Over three hundred research articles and texts were reviewed for this book. No other source has more practical, scientifically backed information that gout sufferers can start using immediately to reduce or stop attacks while living a healthier and pain free life.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Tarek Kteleh, MD(Washington University Medical Center)
Description:This excellent book explains gout and the available treatment options in an easy to understand way.
Purpose:The purpose is to educate lay people about gout and its treatment.
Audience:Patients with gout and those interested in learning about this condition are the intended audience.
Features:The book educates readers about the stages of gout, its treatment (as well as how it is often mistreated), and the lifestyle and dietary changes necessary for gout sufferers. The illustrations would have been enhanced by the use of color.
Assessment:This is an excellent review of gout that addresses the problem of the lack of information about the disease among the public.

Preface to the Second Edition i

Introduction iii

Chapter 1 The Four Stages of Gout 1

Why Do We Get Gout? 1

Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia 3

Acute Attacks 4

Intercritical Periods 7

Advanced Gout 9

Chapter 2 Treating Gout 11

Part 1 Treating Acute Attacks 12

Part 2 Managing Hyperuricemia 23

Part 3 Prophylaxis 32

An Alternative Treatment Method 34

Gout Management at-a-glance 36

Chapter 3 Getting the Right Diagnosis 39

Synovial Fluid Diagnosis 39

Tophi Sampling Diagnosis 41

Clinical Diagnosis 41

Blood Tests 42

Urine Tests 43

Genetic Tests 43

Diagnostic Imaging 44

Other Conditions that Look Can Like Gout 46

Chapter 4 Hyperuricemia 49

What is Hyperuricemia? 49

Why Does Hyperuricemia Occur? 50

Some Causes of Secondary Gout 51

Conditions Associated with Hyperuricemia and Gout 53

Chapter 5 Diet and Lifestyle 61

Weight and Exercise 61

Alcohol 64

Diet 66

Frutose 70

Proteins, Dairy and Fats 72

Other Lifestyle Factors 74

Diet and Lifestyle at-a-glance 76

Chapter 6 Alternative Medicine 79

Alternative Treatments backed by Scientific Evidence 80

Alternative Treatments with Little or no Scientific Evidence 82

Appendix A Purine Content of Food 87

Appendix B Additional Medication Information 93

General Information on NSAIDs 93

Information on Specific NSAIDs 96

Colchicine 107

Uric Acid Lowering Medications 109

Other Uric Acid Lowering Medications 116

Other Medications for Acute Attacks 117

Appendix C For Doctors 119

Glossary 121

References 129

Index 139