The Cause of Gout Symptoms

Gout has been around longer than humankind. Medical pathologists have seen evidence of Gout in dinosaur fossils, according to some sources. Even vultures are known to suffer from the effects of “the Gout“.

Romans coined the term Podagra (from “pod”, meaning foot, and “agra” which roughly translates to “trap”), but even in the prior era of (bronze age) classical Greece, writers were documenting the effects of this crushingly-painful arthritic condition.

In recent years we know that many lay-people (and some doctors, even!) recommend dark, or tart cherry juice as a folk remedy to ward off attacks of Gout, but in ancient Greece the fruit of choice was the humble blackberry.

The blackberry is a bundle of tiny juicy sacks all clustered together around a solid white core. It is similar in shape to the raspberry and is often confused with the Black Raspberry, but it is actually smaller. Raspberries also lack the Blackberry’s solid core and are hollow inside once picked.

While there are no studies we are aware of touting Blackberries as a “Gout-Fighting Superfruit” it is an interesting historical footnote. On the other hand, we know of nothing in the medical literature claiming that these succulent little berries are in any way harmful to Gout sufferers, either.

So, if you are inclined, give the Blackberry a try, and let us know what you think.

Savient Pharmaceuticals has issued a press release (1/31/06) regarding their status on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Buried in that release is the revelation of what they consider to be a very promising med currently under development.

From the release:

The Company’s lead product development candidate, Puricase(R), for the treatment of refractory gout has reported positive Phase 1 and 2 clinical data.

The term refractory means that this is intended for patients whose Gout has proven to be treament-resistant.

Furthermore, apparently the drug was discussed by Savient at a medical conference last november. At that conference, they revealed to doctors present that in at least one study case, a patient’s Tophi were dissolved by Puricase treatment. This is still anecdotal at this point, but surprising and exciting as well.

There is a question as to whether Puricase will be appropriate for vegans, orthodox jews or muslims as a swine-derived compound is part of the formula for Puricase - namely Porcine Uricase.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney has been discharged from the hospital. There is some difference of opinion between his doctors, but it seems that Cheney may be suffering from Gout.

In a related story, the US government has announced its new plan to bring the gifts of freedom and democracy to all countries that export tart cherry juice.

OK, that last bit isn’t true, but “Dick Cheney might have Gout” is really too short for a proper web article. I hope I haven’t offended any of our Republican friends… remember, Gout follows no ideological bounds!