Gout: "Disease Of Kings" Gaining Prevalence In US

A new analysis shows that gout today afflicts 8.3 million American adults. The prevalence of this painful disease, which affects far more men (6.1 million) than women (2.2 million), has skyrocketed by 44% in the last two decades. Researchers attribute much of this growth to epidemic rates of obesity (body mass index) and high blood pressure (hypertension). The study was published July 28 in Arthritis & Rheumatism, the journal of the American College of Rheumatology. You will find excellent reports on the Scientific American website and in text and audio on the NPR Shots health blog. In our Diseases and Conditions section we file gout under arthritis, as does the Arthritis Foundation. People with gout usually find relief with common antiinflammation medications that reduce levels of uric acid in the joints. We find no good evidence to recommend hyperbaric oxygen.

[Illustration: 1910 Spanish advertisement, NPR Picture Show blog]

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.