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Gout – an Update for the Pharmacist: Pharmacist’s Module 4, 2016
Gout is a painful and potentially debilitating condition that develops in some people who have chronically high blood levels of urate (commonly referred to as uric acid).
Despite an understanding of its pathogenesis and the availability of effective treatment, gout is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late in its clinical course and even when correctly diagnosed, treatment is often suboptimal.Furthermore, there is growing evidence that gout is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
With the growing pervasiveness of the disease and mounting recognition of its association with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, it is important to recognise and treat gout patients early. Acute attacks of gout are extremely painful and if repeated attacks go untreated, chronic deforming arthritis may develop. Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy are therefore essential to reduce the acute and long-term disability associated with the disease.
This Module discusses gout, its risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Because suboptimal management of gout stems primarily from poor patient education and compliance, under-utilisation of available medicines, drug interactions and patient co-morbidities, the pharmacist can play a valuable role in ongoing patient education as well as gout prevention and management.
