Excerpt
The scourge of gout remains highly prevalent1. Its incidence is on the rise2, and the predominant clinical manifestations are as challenging as ever to safely manage. When a gout attack strikes, often at the least convenient of times, the affected host is overcome by misery, if not incapacitated, as was the case during antiquity. Although an estimated 3 million Americans experienced a gout attack in 20051, the range of available treatment options — for both acute intervention and prophylaxis — is virtually unchanged from 40 years ago. While nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, corticosteroids (oral, intravenous, and intraarticular), colchicine and allopurinol have established therapeutic…