Here’s an article from the FDA about a new drug for Gout…a common disease in Obese people…..

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Colcrys to treat acute flairs in patients with gout, a recurrent and painful form of arthritis, and patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), an inherited inflammatory disorder. The medication’s active ingredient is colchicine, a complex compound derived from the dried seeds of a plant known as the autumn crocus or meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale).

Colchicine has been used by healthcare practitioners for many years to treat gout but had not been approved by the FDA. The FDA has an initiative underway to bring unapproved, marketed products like colchicine under its regulatory framework. This initiative promotes the goal of assuring that all marketed drugs meet modern standards for safety, effectiveness, quality and labeling.

Physicians historically have given colchicine hourly for acute gout flares until the flare subsided or they had to stop treatment because the patient began experiencing gastrointestinal problems. A dosing study required as part of FDA approval demonstrated that one dose initially and a single additional dose after one hour was just as effective as continued hourly dosing for acute gout flares, but much less toxic. As a result, the drug is being approved for acute gout flares with the lower recommended dosing regimen.

The FDA is alerting healthcare professionals to this new dosing regimen and also warning about the potential for severe drug interactions when patients take colchicine.

The medicinal value of using colchicum was first identified in the first century A.D. and its use for treating acute gout dates back to 1810. Physicians have prescribed the medication since then. Although single-ingredient colchicine has not been approved by the FDA until now, a combination product containing colchicine and an agent that increased the excretion of uric acid in the urine was approved by the FDA in 1939.

FMF is the most common of the hereditary periodic fever syndromes and is characterized by recurrent episodes of fever, arthritis and painful inflammation of the lining layers of the lungs and abdomen.  Though rare in the United States, it is more common in Mediterranean countries. Physicians have prescribed colchicine for FMF for many years based on studies showing that it reduced the frequency of attacks but use of colchicine for FMF had never been approved. With this approval, Colcrys becomes the first drug approved to treat FMF.

Colcrys is manufactured by Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., Philadelphia.

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Gout is painful and debilitating. But it can be largely controlled by the food you eat. The gout food to avoid is the kind with high levels of purines. This substance produces uric acid. Too much uric acid in the body causes gout. So it follows that avoiding eating foods with high levels of purines will help to lessen the chances of a gout attack. Here is my top 3 list of some gout food to avoid…

1. Offal foods are bad for gout. Things like kidneys, tripe, liver and tongue should all stay well off your menu. So should any red meat, at least if taken in excessive quantities.

2. Shellfish are also off limits. Avoid eating scallops, cod roe, crab, lobster, etc. They may taste great, but gout is very, very painful, and there are other, better things you can eat for nutrition.

3. Alcohol… Sorry, but too much of the booze will only add to your gout pain. OK, you can have a couple of glasses of beer, or maybe a glass of wine occasionally, but keep it down to sensible limits.

Gout is a painful form of arthritis. Some 5% of all cases of arthritis is accounted for by gout. It affects the joints and characteristically the sufferer experiences sudden, usually severe, bouts of swelling with redness and pain, often warmth too, in one or several inflamed joints. If you lose excess weight, this will help too, but pay attention to the gout food to avoid and sudden, painful and debilitating attacks will be much less likely.

John Coutts is an experienced author who writes on a variety of popular subjects. Did you find these tips useful? You can learn a lot more about from this resource, http://www.3minuteguides.com/gout.html

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ou may be experiencing gout symptoms and you don’t even know it. You may blame it on a number of other causes such as working conditions, not eating right, to name just a few of the excuses you come up with so you don’t realize you may have a gout symptom.

Many people consider gout an old fashioned disease that has all but been eradicated. Not true, many people suffer daily from a gout symptom of one kind or another. How can you know if what you are suffering is truly a gout symptom? Do your research online and you can know if your gout symptom is something that is treatable, or much more serious.

If you know what gout is, then you can be aware if you are having a gout symptom. What gout is is a painful inflammation of the joints. It is a form of arthritis and eating certain foods can cause severe gout symptom. If diet plays a significant factor, than treatment of gout symptom should be done through proper diet as well as the proper medication.

One of the most recognizable gout symptom is a severe or sudden attack of pain. It will cause tenderness, warmth, redness and perhaps some swelling in some of the affected joints.

Gout symptoms usually attack just a single joint at a time. It especially likes to go after the big toe. The why of that is probably buried deep in scientific annals, but whatever, it is true. Those with gout must watch that they don’t mistreat their condition and lose a toe. Other symptoms of gout can be pain in the foot, ankle, wrist, hand and elbow. It seems as if deposits of chemicals called uric acid also called tophi will appear as lumps beneath the skin surrounding the joint.

If you think you are having gout symptoms, it is time to bite the bullet and go visit a doctor. You don’t have to suffer the pain associated with this gout symptom if you get yourself some physical therapy and find the medications that best address your gout symptom.

For more information about Gout Symptoms, feel free to visit us at: http://www.about-goat.info/Articles/Gout_Symptoms.php
 

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