In the past 20 years, with the improvement of living standards and changes in dietary habits, people consume too much purine-rich meat, alcohol and other foods, today’s gout is no longer the patent of the emperors. According to statistics, the number of patients with hyperuricemia in China has reached 120 million, including more than 75 million gout patients, and is rapidly increasing at an annual growth rate of 9.7%. Gout has become the second largest metabolic disease in China after diabetes, devouring people’s health, and there are some misconceptions about gout. Myth 1: High uric acid is gout, must use drugs We know that gout is a disease caused by high blood uric acid, the daily production and excretion of uric acid is to maintain a certain balance, if overproduction or poor excretion, it will make uric acid accumulate in the body, resulting in excessive uric acid in the blood (i.e. hyperuricemia). Only when there is an attack of gouty arthritis can it be called gout, while those who have never had an attack of arthritis are called hyperuricemia. As long as you pay attention to your diet or find out the cause of correction, the uric acid value may return to normal and usually does not require medication, while gout is a disease state that if left untreated usually results in the appearance of gouty stones and even leads to joint deformity, which can lead to renal insufficiency in late stages. Myth 2: Blood uric acid must be high during a gout attack According to statistics, about 30% of people with gout are within the normal range of blood uric acid values during an acute arthritis attack, but as long as they continue to follow up on the uric acid values, most of them will be found to be high. On the other hand, people with high uric acid in their blood may not necessarily have gout if they have joint pain, so they should consult a physician to avoid misdiagnosis and treatment. In addition, uric acid is a dynamic balance in the body, and the value of uric acid may be different every day, so it should be measured several times to determine if it is really too high. Myth 3: Controlling a high purine diet can prevent gout and its recurrence Diet is indeed an important factor in triggering gout attacks. Domestic statistics report that gout triggers are, in order of prevalence, excessive fatigue, consumption of high purine foods, alcoholism, colds, joint trauma and excessive exercise. However, we should also pay attention to several factors that are closely related to gout attack, such as obesity, combined with other diseases, especially hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and the application of small doses of aspirin and thiazide diuretics. Some data show that more than 50% of gout patients are overweight, and about 3/4 of them have hypertension or (and) hyperlipidemia in combination. Therefore, it is not enough to control diet alone, but it is especially important to reduce weight, treat concurrent diseases and avoid diuretics. Myth 4: Uric acid-lowering drugs should be used immediately when gout attacks occur Gout acute attacks, uric acid-lowering drugs can not control joint inflammation, on the contrary, because they reduce the blood uric acid level, so that the crystals formed by the dissolution of gout stones in the joints can aggravate joint inflammation or (and) cause metastatic gout, so you should wait for the acute inflammation to be controlled before using uric acid-lowering drugs. Myth 5: Anti-infection treatment is needed for gout attacks Gout is a sterile inflammatory reaction caused by uric acid crystals deposited in the joints and surrounding tissues, unless there is co-infection, antibiotic treatment is generally not needed. Myth 6: Gout is an acute disease and does not need to be treated once the redness, swelling and pain have cleared up In fact, gout is a chronic disease like diabetes, with a few attacks only once or a few times, and most frequent attacks. Although you don’t need to take medication for life like most diabetic patients, you should follow up for a long time and review regularly. In particular, some patients with stubborn recurrent attacks, combined with gout stones, chronic kidney disease, high blood lipids, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, need a long time to regulate the use of drugs, otherwise it is easy to develop joint deformity and renal insufficiency.