Managing Gout As a Chronic Progressive inflammatory Disease

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In the MD Insights program “The ‘Disease of Kings:’ Addressing Misperceptions and Treating Gout Effectively Now and in the Future,” Theodore R. Fields, MD, professor of clinical medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and director of the Rheumatology Faculty Practice Plan at Hospital for Special Surgery, discusses gout diagnosis, misperceptions about the disease, and the consequences of undertreatment of this condition. He also reviews current gout treatment options and discusses potential future treatments.

Dr. Fields noted that many patients with gout receive only episodic treatment for recurrent acute attacks instead of having their condition managed as a chronic progressive inflammatory disease.

He also discussed several common misperception patients have about gout, with the most important being that gout is purely a dietary disease. “I have to explain to them that it’s true that gout diet has an impact; there’s no question you can set off an attack by eating the wrong thing, but you don’t have gout because of what you ate. Gout’s a genetic disease rather than a dietary disease,” he said.