Posts Tagged gout pain
FDA Rejects New Gout Drug and Approve an Old One
Posted by Victor Konshin in Gout Treatments, New Research on August 4th, 2009
It was starting to look like 2009 was the year going banner year for new gout drugs. That all came to a holt on Sunday as the FDA rejected the application for Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s drug, Krystexxa® (also called puricase or pegloticase). This new drug used an enzyme not found in humans that breaks down uric acid in the body. To prevent the body rejecting the foreign enzyme it is “locked up” in a molecular “cage”. This cage allowed uric acid to flow in but blocks the immune system from attacking the enzyme (see, New Gout Drugs – Coming to a Pharmacy Near You).
Interestingly, the FDA did not have any complaints about the drug itself and found that the drug was safe and effective. In fact, the FDA’s advisory board voted 14 to 1 to approve the drug. However, the FDA raised concerns that the drug that was studied was created using a different manufacturing process than the drug that would be released to the public. Due to concerns that this different manufacturing process could change the safety or effectiveness of the drug, the FDA rejected the drug until the manufacturer proves that the different manufacturing method resulted in a drug that was also safe and effective.
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Yet Another Study Shows Primary Care Doctors Often Do Not Correctly Manage Gout
Posted by Victor Konshin in New Research on July 14th, 2009
Another study showing most primary care doctors do not know how to properly manage gout appeared in the journal Rheumatology International this month. This study found that only 27.5% of patients had their uric acid level measured on, at least, an annual basis. This means that doctors where unable to evaluate the effectiveness of uric acid lowering treatment, that is, if they even bothered to prescribe one.
This is another shining example of why it’s important to arm yourself with the facts on how this disease is managed. There is a lot of very bad information out there and this misinformation results in you being in pain! That’s a pretty compelling reason why you should become familiar with the proper and scientifically backed methods of managing this disease. Not to replace your doctor, but to complement his care.
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The Impact of Gout on Your Quality-of-Life, Finances and Family
Posted by Victor Konshin in General, Gout Treatments on April 27th, 2009
If you have gout, you understand that gout has a definite impact on your quality-of-life during an attack — life sucks. The pain can be unbearable. Researchers have looked at this question more quantitatively though and come up with some interesting findings.
As we know, gout is caused by uric acid crystalizing in our joints, which causes an immune response (if you don’t know this, see, Gout Basics). Even when you are not in the middle of a gout attack, if you have high uric acid levels, crystals are always forming and dissolving and not just in your joints, but all over your body. These crystals are seen as invaders by your immune system which causes it to respond. This causes your immune system to alway be in a heightened state of alert and it causes inflammation in your body which can cause many deadly diseases (see, Is Gout Dangerous). But the problems do not stop there…
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How to Stop a Gout Attack
Posted by Victor Konshin in Gout Treatments on April 9th, 2009
One of the myths that I wrote about in my Top 10 Gout Myths post is: “Once a gout attacks starts, there is nothing you can do but ride it out”. In this post I will talk about what to do when you feel a gout attack coming on.
Act Fast!
Gout is caused by an immune response to uric acid crystals forming in the joint (see Gout Basics). This immune response starts a spiral that quickly causes massive inflammation and pain. The key to stopping a gout attack is to break the spiral!
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Top 10 Gout Myths
Posted by Victor Konshin in Alternative Medicine, Diet, General, Gout Treatments on April 2nd, 2009
I am always taken aback at the number and persistence of gout myths. Just read a few Internet web pages on gout and gout treatments and it won’t take you long to find contradicting information – even from supposedly reputable sites. These myths are one of the key reasons why the quality of gout care for gout has fallen so much over the past few decades. Bad information keeps getting passed on – over and over. This article will help you understand some of these myths and learn the truth.
Myth #1: Gout is curable. There are tons of websites out there that promise “gout cures” if only you send them some amount of money. The truth is, that for 90% of cases, gout is a genetic condition. This is why gout often runs in families. Genetic conditions cannot be cured, only managed. The other 10 % of cases are called secondary gout. These are usually caused by some underlying medical condition. Some of these conditions can be very serious such as lymphoma or kidney disease. Only a small number of cases are truly ‘curable’. These cases are usually caused by high blood pressure medications called diuretics or extreme obesity. If you have gout, your doctor should check for a secondary cause of gout, if none is found, then you have a genetic condition that can only be managed.
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Gout Basics
Posted by Victor Konshin in General on April 1st, 2009
Since this is a new blog, I thought it would be a good idea to write about the basics of gout. I am often surprised about just how little some people who have had this condition for years know about this disease that effects their lives so much. The treatments for gout can get complicated, often requiring three different medications on different schedules so understanding what causes gout and the exact process of the disease is key to understanding the role of each of these medications and how to use them effectively. If you properly treat this disease, there is no reason to ever have to suffer another painful attack.
Gout is cause by having too much uric acid in your body, a condition called hyperuricemia. Uric acid is a natural substance in the body that is created through metabolism. People with hyperuricemia either create too much uric acid and/or have trouble eliminating it from their body. When levels of uric acid get high enough, this uric acid can start to crystalize.
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