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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staff
Medications
If you experience several gout attacks each year or if your gout attacks are less frequent but particularly painful, your doctor may recommend medication to reduce your risk of future gout attacks and of gout-related complications.
You usually begin taking preventive medications once your acute gout attack has subsided. Options include:
- Low-dose NSAIDs
- Low-dose colchicine
- Allopurinol or febuxostat
- Probenecid
Dietary changes
During symptom-free periods, these dietary guidelines may help protect against future gout attacks:
- Keep your fluid intake high. Aim for 8 to 16 cups (about 2 to 4 liters) of fluid each day, including at least half water.
- Limit or avoid alcohol. Talk with your doctor about whether any amount or type of alcohol is safe for you. Recent evidence suggests that beer may be particularly likely to increase the risk of gout symptoms, especially in men.
- Eat a balanced diet following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Your daily diet should emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk products.
- Get your protein from low-fat dairy products. Low-fat dairy products may actually have a protective effect against gout, so these are your best-bet protein sources.
- Limit your intake of meat, fish and poultry. A small amount may be tolerable, but pay close attention to what types — and how much — seem to cause problems for you.
- Maintain a desirable body weight. Choose portions that allow you to maintain a healthy weight. Losing weight may decrease uric acid levels in your body. But avoid fasting or rapid weight loss, since doing so may temporarily raise uric acid levels.
- Gout. American College of Rheumatology. http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/diseases_and_conditions/gout.asp. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Gout. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec04/ch035/ch035b.html. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Becker MA. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of gout. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Becker MA. Treatment of acute gout. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Hayman S, et al. Gout: Is a purine-restricted diet still recommended? Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2009;109:1652.
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/document/default.htm . Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Demio PC. Gout. In: Rakel RE. Integrative Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/161368019-9/891013598/1494/112.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2954-0..50069-7--cesec4_3349. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Yu K-H, et al. Dietary factors associated with hyperuricemia in adults. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2008;37:243.
- Becker MA. Prevention of recurrent gout. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Mercier LR. Gout. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/161368019-15/891042809/2088/271.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05609-0..00016-2--sc0085_5557. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
- Questions and answers about gout. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Gout/default.asp. Accessed Sept. 23, 2009.
