John Botson, MD: Challenges Associated With Treating Gout

John Botson, MD

As new guidelines for gout are published, many challenges still exist in treating the condition.

John Botson, MD, a clinical rheumatologist in Anchorage, Alaska, told HCPLive® the biggest challenge with gout is the way the condition is being looked at. He said primary care providers are very familiar with gout because patients will come in with a swollen toe and they cannot work and are miserable. When the attack goes away, they still have the uric acid crystals in their joints and bodies.

“But they don’t think about it anymore,” Botson said.

Providers need to be aware of this and refer the patient to a rheumatologist. A big challenge is identifying the patients who are going to podiatry offices or with a primary care provider and never present to a rheumatologist because they don’t think about the need to go to 1 or because they don’t have enough episodes.

“That’s the challenge,” he said. “Getting the word out that this is something we have to treat every day—preventatively almost—instead of just waiting for a bad episode to happen.”

To learn more about the challenges of gout, watch the video featuring Botson below.