—Gout is a common and excruciatingly painful inflammatory arthritis caused by elevated uric acid levels in the blood. When too much uric acid builds up in joint fluid, uric acid crystals form and cause joint swelling and inflammation.
Historically, gout was seen as a male disease, however growing evidence suggests the disease is also a concern for older women.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine found that women with serum uric acid levels over 5 mg/dl had a significantly lower risk of developing gout than men, even though the Rochester Epidemiology project study found the incidence of gout has doubled among women over the past 20 years.
The research team led by Dr Hyon Choi, analyzed data from the Framingham Heart Study for 2,476 women and 1,951 men who had a complete follow-up history and who were free of gout at baseline.
This study, the first to examine the relationship between uric acid levels and gout risk in women, also evaluated purported risk factors for gout and found that increasing age, obesity, hypertension, alcohol use, and diuretic use to be among leading contributors for women.
However, researchers found only a stronger age effect among women placed them at higher risk factors for gout than men. The age-adjusted relative risk (RR) of gout in post-menopausal women was 4.18 and the RR for gout in women using hormone replacement therapy was 0.24. Other risk factors did not differ significantly between women and men.
They found that higher levels of uric acid in the blood increase the risk gout risk for women in a graded manner. The risk of gout among women with serum uric acid levels ≥8 mg/dl was 46 times higher than that among women whose levels were <5 mg/dl.
However, results show that overall, magnitude of the association between gout and uric acid blood levels among women was significantly lower than for men.
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