The Cause of Gout Symptoms

From Wikipedia (adapted):

Historically, Gout was viewed as a disease of the decadent and indolent, because the foods which contribute to its development were only available in quantity to the wealthy. The stereotypical victim was a lazy, obese middle-aged man who habitually overindulged in rich foods and alcohol, with port consumption often cited as a specific cause.

Perhaps due to the traditional relationship between wealth and literacy, gout is one of the most commonly-reported maladies in history.

The Roman gladiatorial surgeon Galen described gout as a discharge of the four humors of the body in unbalanced amounts into the joints. The Latin term for a drop, as a drop of discharge, is gutta — the term gout descends from this word.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2005 at 6:45 pm and is filed under General Gout. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.