Beer drinking more likely to cause gout than wine

Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 16 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Beer drinking is more likely to cause gout than wine, alcohol consumption generally is linked to gout, according to a new study.

If you drink two or more beers a day your risk of developing gout goes by two-and-a-half (compared to people who do not drink beer). This is according to an American study that was carried out on 47,000 male medical staff.

If you have a couple of spirit drinks a day your risk goes up by 1.6. Two glasses of wine a day, on the other hand, does not increase your risk of gout.

The researchers were from Massachussetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. They examined the medical histories of 40-75 year-old men over 12 years. Over that twelve-year-period 730 got gout. They did not need to drink that much for the risk to go up.

You can read about this study in the medical journal The Lancet.

Lead researcher, Hyon Choi said "…beer increased the risk of serving (of alcohol) per day more than twice as much as did spirits, even though the alcohol content per serving was less for beer than spirits. Consumption of two 4oz glasses of wine was not associated with any increased risk of gout."

Choi reckons the high levels of purines found in many beers may be the reason for this. Purines can be found in beer, yeast extracts, liver, offal and some oily fish. If you suffer from gout you should avoid these products, says the Arthritis Research Council.

What is Gout?

Gout, also called gouty arthritis, is caused by an accumulation of uric acid in the blood. The disease usually appears in midlife and primarily in males. It can be hereditary or the secondary to some other disease process. The main symptom of gout is severe pain and swelling in joints, but gout usually effects one joint at a time, then may move from one joint to effect another joint.

The kidneys filter uric acid out of the body. In gout the body makes excess uric acid or the kidneys fail to function properly, failing to rid the body of the uric acid and it begins to build up in the joints in the form of uric acid crystals. This condition is very painful. The accumulation of these crystals causes severe pain and swelling in the joint. A common site for gout is the big toe joint. But gout can occur in an ankle, knee, elbow, wrist or finger. Typically the onset occurs at night with excruciating pain, swelling and inflammation.

Rich food and alcohol may contribute to the rise in uric acid and the increase in the severity of the symptoms. Also drinking plenty of water, helps keep the kidneys filtrating properly.

Checking uric acid levels is how gout is diagnosed. Sometimes fluid has to be extracted from the joint with a needle and syringe.

There is antigout medication that is given to help alleviate symptoms and prevent attacks, by keeping uric acid levels down.

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