The professor emeritus of the Department of Clinical of the UMH (Spain), Eliseo Pascual, has collaborated in a study where are collected data proving that the gout is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. The journal of the American College of Reumathology has recently published an article titled “Arthritis and Rheumatology”.

 
Access to the published article in PubMed
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

Who runs the study where collected data proves that the gout is a risk factor for coronary heart disease?

The study is led by doctors Mariano Andrés and María Amparo Quintanilla and was carried out in different hospitals in the province of Alicante (Spain), among them:

• General University Hospital of Alicante (Spain)
• General University Hospital of Elda (Spain)

What is the study about where collected data proves that the gout is a risk factor for coronary heart disease?

The importance of the work lies, by analyzing data and information with real patients, that it has been demonstrated that risk of coronary disease. Using data from 140 patients after experiencing an acute coronary episode, was made them a coronary angiography. None of the patient had suffered previously gout but was identified more than 50 contained elevated levels of uric acid (higher than the general population); the patients were located of urate crystals typical of gout, which is observed in 13 of them. Features of more severe disease, coronary calcifications could be checked in this group of patients. In the follow-up (not picked up by the article but presented in the) Congress of the American College of Rheumatology), the minor group has experienced more new episodes of coronary heart disease who have need of revascularization, determining that his coronary disease is far more serious.

In addition to the previous research, checking the veracity of the data “on-site” draws attention to the need to try to detect the gout when co-exists an obvious cardiovascular risk and be able to treat it; still the increase in cardiovascular risk associated with gout, a decay factor and even its possible demise. This is a discipline and area of knowledge open and wide, where information is still updated.
 

What is the gout and how the study where are collected data reinforce proves that the gout is a risk factor for coronary disease?

The gout originates through of the formation of uric acid crystals , basically in joints, as a result of high levels of uric acid in blood.
The most common manifestations are the attacks continued from arthritis, very painful; However, despite not suffering symptoms if there is persistent inflammation caused by uric acid crystals. Recently it was considereds the gout as a disease without more consequences than those mentioned attacks (except those who had advanced disease).

However, recently, several epidemiological studies (through the use of extensive and collected databases for other purposes) have established that those patients presenting gout, are more likely to have atherosclerosis. And its consequences, therefore, mainly suffer from coronary diseases, infarction of myocardium, etc. Finally, this study confirms all analyzed on the investigated patients.