Men and women who drink a pint of beer or cider a day are more likely to develop gout.
- Unlike women, men who drink alcoholic beverages are more likely to develop gout than those who have never drunk.
- In both men and women, consumption of champagne or white wine, beer or cider, and spirits increases the risk.
- However, the greatest effect was seen for beer or cider at a rate of one pint per day.
Known since antiquity, made famous by the kings who suffered from it, gout is a chronic disease due to the presence of excess uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia). According to Health insurancemicrocrystals of uric acid can then be deposited in the joints and surrounding tissues, creating inflammation or inflammatory arthropathy. This rheumatism is manifested by the occurrence of recurrent and spontaneously resolving joint inflammatory flare-ups, called “gout attacks”.
179,828 men and 221,300 women were followed
“Previous studies of alcohol consumption and gout have mostly focused on men or combined both sexes, and sex-specific associations between alcohol consumption and gout are poorly understood,” reported researchers from Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University (China). In a recent study, they decided to evaluate the consumption of total and specific alcoholic beverages in association with incident gout in men and women. For the purposes of the work, the team followed 401,128 people, including 179,828 men and 221,300 women. The participants were aged 37 to 73 years and did not suffer from gout at baseline, until December 31, 2021. The data collected were analyzed between August 2023 and June 2024.
Gout: The most significant effect is observed for beer or cider
According to the results, published in the journal JAMA Network Openin men, current drinkers had a higher risk of gout than adults who had never drunk. However, this was not observed in women. In both men and women, consumption of champagne or white wine, beer or cider, and spirits was associated with a higher risk of gout. “The most obvious gender difference in consumption of specific alcoholic beverages was observed for beer or cider at a rate of one pint per day,” can be read in the study.
