How Many of Us Have Gout?
I have read conflicting numbers about this question, but apparently in the United States between two and five million people have gout. I have also read that one million have gout in the USA. Whatever number you believe, that is a lot of us suffering from gout pain.
The numbers about how many men versus how many women also differ. But it seems that gout afflicts four to eight times as many men as women.
Since men begin increasing their uric acid levels after going through puberty, they have plenty of time to build up a high level of uric acid by middle age. Gout does not show itself until many years of high uric acid levels have occurred.
Women do not start increasing uric acid levels until after menopause, so the hormones evidently play a role in the gender difference with gout. Because of developing high uric acid levels later in life than men, it is primarily older women who may develop gout. Younger women rarely show the disease.
As with many other diseases this one appears to be on an upswing in the United States. I suspect this has to do with the overly processed American food supply that is grown on increasingly depleted soils.
If nutrition plays such a major role in gout, depleted nutrition in our food supply would certainly factor into the development of gout. Of course, the medical profession remains largely oblivious to these ideas as their training aims their attention in other directions.
Sometimes we have to explore many possibilities for ourselves as we grapple with the problems of living with gout.
Posted by admin / About Gout
