Rheumatoid Arthritis is not just a destructive disease, it causes significant pain. In UK there are about 350,000 sufferers. The disease develops when the immune system  or defense mechanism turns on the body itself and attacks joints. The joints become swollen, painful and stiff. In time this dreadful disease can leave a person with deformed […]

Weight loss can make a significant difference to the level of pain, stiffness and mobility of arthritic joints. Whatever diet you chose you should incorporate the right exercise. If on your diet, you are not losing weight, then you should include low glycaemic index foods. The glycaemic Index ranks food on the effect they have […]

If you have arthritis and you are looking to control pain without drugs, then the first thing you need to do is  reduce your weight or maintain a normal weight. If you are overweight, weight loss will be the most important thing you can do to improve the level of pain, stiffness and mobility.
A small […]

Gout is caused by high uric acid in the blood. In the past it was known as the Patrician’s Malady and thought to be a disease of indulgence, and until the introduction of drugs that lowered the uric acid level, patients suffered recurrent and frequent acute agonising gout and chronic gout leading to polyarthritis, tophi […]

If you have an episode of acute gout, it does not mean you have to be on continuous drug therapy to reduce your blood uric acid level. It simply means that your doctor will look for possible factors that may influence the level of uric acid in your blood and continue to check you uric […]

Hyperuricaemia is a higher than normal blood level of uric acid. There are individuals with high blood uric acid levels and have never had an attack of gout. Are these people at risk of arthritis of the joints and kidney stones from urate crystals deposits? Yes they are.
Firstly the diagnosis of asymptomatic hyperuricaemia is made […]

In the days before adequate treatment controlled the blood level of uric acid, chronic gout presented with multiple joint involvement and chronic poly-arthritis. Today this is rare and only found in patients who refuse medication or have poor compliance. Here the acute gout attack will become more frequent. Then other joints become involved. The crystals […]

The first explanation of podagra was in the sixteenth century by Burgamer, a German Physician. He said podagra is a pain in the feet with or without swelling which comes from dampness or drought.
Podagra is acute gout affecting the big toe and typically the first metatarso-phalangeal joint. It is as a result of higher than […]

Hippocrates described gout in men and post-menopausal women. Studies have shown that the incidence of potential gout is one in one hundred. Studies have also shown a link between high uric acid blood levels and hypertension and obesity. It is also suggested that the incidence of gout is increasing.
In the past gout was unheard of […]

In acute gout, the pain is severe, throbbing and unrelenting and can last longer than a week. The affected joint is swollen, shiny and very tender to touch and often contact with the bed sheath can cause agonising pain.
The initial treatment is an optimal dose of an anti-inflammatory drug. The commonest of these is ibuprofen. […]