Do I need formal treatment for gout?

  Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from gout, but the treatment of gout often lacks systematic and formal treatment.  We often see patients who suffer from pain due to gout attacks and patients who have chronic renal insufficiency due to a history of gout for many years, and we feel that people are not as familiar with gout as they are with hypertension and diabetes.  Gout is an acute and chronic arthritis caused by a persistent increase in blood uric acid levels, which leads to the deposition of uric acid crystals in the joints.  In an acute gout attack, anti-inflammatory and analgesic treatment is required first.  The inflammation referred to here is not the same thing as the common understanding of inflammation, but is a sterile inflammation, so antibiotic treatment is not required.  The doctor will choose one of them according to the patient’s condition.  After the joint symptoms are completely relieved, patients need to choose uric acid-lowering drugs according to their uric acid level, whether their kidney function is normal and whether they have a history of kidney stones.  At present, there are two main types of uric acid-lowering drugs in China: allopurinol and benzbromarone.  The mechanism of action of the two drugs is different, the former is to reduce uric acid production, the latter is to promote uric acid excretion, so it is more appropriate to use allopurinol for patients with renal insufficiency and a history of kidney stones. The starting time of uric acid-lowering treatment should be when there are no joint symptoms, and it needs to be continued, not today and not tomorrow. Moreover, uric acid-lowering drugs need to be started in small amounts and gradually increased to avoid drastic fluctuations in blood uric acid, and the treatment dose should be adjusted according to the regular review of liver and kidney function and uric acid level, and the target value of uric acid-lowering treatment is 360umol/L. The blood uric acid level under this value will not The target value for uric acid lowering therapy is 360umol/L. Blood uric acid levels below this value will not form new crystals in the joints, and continued maintenance of this level will help dissolve existing uric acid crystals.  It is important to note that some patients may experience joint symptoms during the process of uric acid reduction, which may be caused by arthritis caused by the dissolution of existing crystals in the joints as a result of the decrease in uric acid in the blood. Therefore, most experts at home and abroad now recommend that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or colchicine can be given to prevent gout attacks when uric acid lowering is started, which can increase the patient’s compliance with uric acid lowering. If joint symptoms occur during the course of uric acid lowering, uric acid lowering treatment should not be stopped without authorization.  In conclusion, the existing uric acid-lowering treatment should not be changed during an acute gout attack, i.e., no uric acid-lowering drugs should be added without uric acid-lowering, and no treatment should be changed if uric acid-lowering drugs have been added. This will facilitate the rapid control of acute gouty arthritis. Lowering uric acid is a constant battle, and consistently maintaining uric acid at the above target values is beneficial in controlling joint symptoms, including cardiovascular and renal function.  The purpose of writing the above comments is to get the correct and regular treatment for more gout patients.