Welcome to season two of Kicking Gout in the Acid. This season will dive into additional topics of importance to not only those with gout, but for those treating the disease as well. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

This episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid features a conversation between Dr. Larry Edwards and Dr. Richard Johnson, board-certified nephrologist and member of the Board of Directors for the Gout Education Society. The two explore the connection between gout and kidney health through topics like uric acid regulation through the kidneys, treatment options, and considerations for medical professionals in charge of care should keep in mind.

Key Takeaways:

The kidneys play a central role in uric acid regulation. About two-thirds of uric acid is excreted by the kidneys, and one-third by the gut. When kidney function declines, uric acid retention occurs, increasing gout risk.

Kidney disease and gout are closely linked to one another. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major cause of gout because impaired kidney function leads to uric acid buildup. Conversely, high uric acid may contribute to CKD progression, creating a vicious cycle.

In those with kidney disease, treatment can look a bit different. Notably, NSAIDs may not be an option due to their harmful impact on the kidneys. For those with kidney disease looking for pain relief from a gout flare, options like steroids should be considered. Also, historical dosing restrictions for allopurinol in CKD have led to undertreatment, but recent evidence supports gradual titration to higher doses when monitored.

For medical professionals, it’s important to screen those with gout for kidney disease and vice versa. Medications known to raise uric acid should also be reviewed, namely, diuretics. Comorbidities should always be considered when treating gout.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Crystal Clear Checklist

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Welcome to season two of Kicking Gout in the Acid. This season will dive into additional topics of importance to not only those with gout, but for those treating the disease as well. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

This episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid features a conversation between Dr. Larry Edwards and Gary Ho, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Gout Support Group of America. The two explore the connection between gout and mental health, highlighting the emotional toll of the disease, the stigma patients face, and the importance of correcting misconceptions. The episode features a candid conversation with a gout patient and offers insights for both patients and healthcare professionals on improving care and understanding

Key Takeaways:

The impact of gout goes beyond physical symptoms. Chronic pain, frequent flares and physical limitations also lead to mental anguish, which can be compounded through feeling unheard or dismissed by healthcare providers.

The stigma surrounding gout is often tied to outdated beliefs about diet and overindulgence. Many physicians also hold biases. Despite clear evidence that gout is a genetic disease, the stigma surrounding the disease leads to shame and guilt in those with the disease.

Misdiagnoses or dismissals of symptoms can occur, so it’s important for patients to monitor their flares and medical professionals to take patient-reported symptoms seriously.

Don’t give up—find your voice, seek support, and advocate for your health. There are resources for those dealing with the disease. Find support through the Gout Support Group of America, the Gout Education Society and other organizations.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Crystal Clear Checklist

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

For the last episode of this season of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by Gary Ho, a gout sufferer turned advocate. Gary has lived with gout for more than 30 years, taking his experience with the disease and forming the Gout Support Group of America, a partner organization to the Gout Education Society under the Alliance for Gout Awareness group. The two discuss Gary’s experience living with gout, how to be an advocate for yourself, and what living with the disease under control looks like.

Key Takeaways:

Living with gout carries frustrating stigmas and myths alongside pain in the joints; many with gout see the disease as embarrassing and self-inflicted. In reality, the disease is underpinned by genetics and is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis.

It’s important to find your voice: If you don’t think you’re getting the level of care needed for your gout, find a second opinion. Those with gout need proactive care, that is, receiving care that reduces uric acid levels in the body.

Gout doesn’t have to stop you from living your life. Maintaining one’s uric acid levels to less than 6.0 mg/dL allows those with the disease to enjoy their favorite foods and beverages in moderation.

If you have gout, you don’t need to suffer alone. Find support through the Gout Support Group of America, the Gout Education Society and other organizations.

Start your journey with gout treatment today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

In this episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by Gout Education Society International Advisory Council member Dr. Puja Khanna, rheumatologist at the University of Michigan. The two discuss the variety of health conditions, also known as comorbidities, commonly seen alongside gout and how they can impact those with the disease.

Key Takeaways:

Gout is often associated with other metabolic diseases like obesity, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia – it’s not simply pain in the toe.

Gout comorbidities impact the treatment of gout; for example, NSAIDs are not a good option for anti-inflammatory treatment of flares in those with kidney disease or diabetes, prompting the use of different options.

Those with gout should be on the lookout for symptoms of comorbidities and talk with their doctor to find the best treatment plan for themselves.

Education is a crucial part of gout management; when combined with self-advocacy, those with gout can reduce the disease’s burden on the body and avoid the negative complications of comorbidities.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

In this episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by Gout Education Society International Advisory Council member Dr. Jasvinder Singh, rheumatologist at Baylor College of Medicine. The two discuss the socioeconomic impact of gout and barriers to proper treatment to showcase how the disease affects more than just the body.

Key Takeaways:

Gout comes with a variety of indirect costs (work absenteeism and loss of productivity) and direct costs (doctor visits, medications, and lab tests) that are often unseen by those with the disease.

Early and ongoing management of the disease is vital to reducing the economic burden on patients.

A lack of rheumatologists in the United States puts additional pressure on primary care physicians to manage the disease early; however, delayed referrals to rheumatologists can negatively impact patient outcomes.

While new, there is potential for new therapies and management strategies. The current priority for gout management lies in addressing adherence issues for patients and knowledge gaps for medical professionals.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

In this episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by Gout Education Society Board of Directors member Dr. Paul Doghramji, certified family practice physician at Collegeville Family Practice and physician advisor at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Pennsylvania. The two discuss the many misconceptions and myths about gout related to such topics as its prevalence, cause, treatment strategies and the role of diet and lifestyle modifications.

Key Takeaways:

Gout is more common than it’s often perceived – more than 12 million Americans are estimated to have the disease.

Gout myths are pervasive. Many people incorrectly believe gout is self-inflicted; in truth, gout is largely hereditary and not commonly brought on by poor diet and lifestyle choices.

Home remedies such as cherry juice are commonly seen as easy treatments for the disease; however, effective management includes anti-inflammatory medications and uric acid-lowering drugs.

Continual educational opportunities for both patients and medical professionals alike are key to breaking the many myths, misconceptions and stigma surrounding gout.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Podcast Transcript

Ian PonitzHello, and welcome to Kicking Gout In The Acid, a podcast from the Gout Education Society. My name is Ian Ponitz, and I'm your host for this series. Kicking Gout In The Acid features conversations between Dr. Larry Edwards, chairman and CEO of the Gout Education Society, and experts on the disease. 

Each episode will dive into important topics that you, the listener, should know about gout. The goal? To feel empowered to get gout under control. 

In this episode, Dr. Edwards will be joined by Dr. Paul Doghramji, certified family practice physician at Collegeville Family Practice and physician advisor at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Pennsylvania. The two will discuss common myths, misconceptions, and the stigma surrounding gout. We'll spend today's episode breaking down these notions in the hopes of improving education surrounding the disease. Dr. Edwards, take it from here. 

Dr. Larry EdwardsThanks, Ian. We're joined today by one of the board members of the Gout Education Society, Dr. Paul Doghramji. Paul is a primary care physician in the Philadelphia area and has had a keen interest in gout for a while. Paul, let me have you introduce yourself. 

Dr. Paul DoghramjiYes. Thank you, Larry. It's great to be here. Paul Doghramji. I am a family physician, board-certified in family practice, and I've been that way for a good many years. I got involved in the area of gout, oddly enough, in somewhat of a curved way. About 20-some years ago, my main area of interest was sleep disorders, and one of the things that I wrote about was restless leg syndrome. And then we did this huge national expose on the biology of leg disorders, so I wrote about restless leg syndrome, but at the same time, I also wrote about other things that can happen to legs, like gout. 

So, I started writing about gout, and it opened a whole world of things that I got to know about when it came to gout and hyperuricemia. So, I did a lot of writing, and then after that, I still did a lot of education for my primary care providers,

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more about how to manage gout.

In this episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by Gout Education Society International Advisory Council member Dr. Herbert Baraf, Senior Clinical Advisor at the National Institute of Health, educator at George Washington University and former practicing rheumatologist. The two discuss the progress of gout from its early stage to a more advanced stage, differences in management, and the importance of getting the disease under control early.

Key Takeaways:

Advanced gout, also known as chronic gout, is characterized by increased frequency/duration of gout flares and tophi formations that deform joints and restrict mobility.

Gout exists and advances in between flares; if left untreated, the disease will progress to a more advanced state.

While treatment options, such as pegloticase and other pain management tools, exist for advanced gout, it’s better to get the disease under control early.

Treatment efficacy should be closely monitored by medical professionals to ensure uric acid levels are treated to a target of 6.0 mg/dL.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Medical Professional Guide

Gout Patient Brochure

Kicking Gout in the Acid is sponsored by Sobi.

Podcast Transcript

Ian PonitzHello, and welcome to Kicking Gout In The Acid, a podcast from the Gout Education Society. My name is Ian Ponitz, and I'm your host for this series. Kicking Gout In The Acid features conversations between Dr. Larry Edwards, chairman and CEO of the Gout Education Society, and experts on the disease.

Each episode will dive into important topics that you, the listener, should know about gout. The goal? To feel empowered to get gout under control. In this episode, Dr. Edwards will be joined by Dr. Herb Baraf, current Senior Clinical Advisor at the National Institute of Health, Clinical Professor at George Washington University, and former practicing rheumatologist. The goal of this episode is to discuss difficult-to-manage gout, commonly known as advanced or chronic gout. Advanced gout is a serious condition that requires specialized care and treatment. So we'll spend today's episode breaking it all down. Dr. Edwards, take it from here.

Dr. Larry EdwardsThanks, Ian. I'm joined today by Dr. Herb Baraf, a member of the Gout Education Society's International Advisory Council. He's an internationally recognized expert in gout, and especially in the more difficult-to-treat forms of gout. Herb, can you give a little more description of who you are and what your tie to gout is?

Dr. Herbert BarafSo I'm a clinical rheumatologist. I left private practice about two years ago after 40-plus years. I'm still a clinical professor of medicine at George Washington, and I'm involved in the teaching program of the Rheumatology Fellows at the National Institutes of Health. I've had an interest in gout since my fellowship, where, as a fellow, I was in charge of the Gout Clinic at the Duke-Durham VA's Gout Clinic and became interested in that, and was always interested in teaching about gout. Then, in the early 2000s, having had a very active clinical trials program, we finally started getting involved in clinical trials with gout. And in that setting made a series of observations that took me from the private practice realm into a more national and international community of gout e...

Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, can wreak havoc on the body. The good news? It’s easily managed with the right help. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, care for someone suffering, or are a medical professional treating the disease, the Kicking Gout in the Acid podcast can help you learn more.

In this episode of Kicking Gout in the Acid, Dr. Larry Edwards is joined by fellow Gout Education Society board member Dr. Brian Mandell. Dr. Mandell, Rheumatologist and Medical Educator at the Cleveland Clinic. The two discuss an overview of gout, its root cause, how it is diagnosed initially, treated over the long-term and the importance of chronic management. Dr. Edwards and Dr. Mandell also touch on the importance of education surrounding gout and its impact on improving gout flare management.

Key Takeaways:

Gout is a chronic disease that requires ongoing management to prevent flares and long-term complications.

Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment.

Long-term management focuses on lowering uric acid levels through medication.

Patients should be proactive in understanding their condition and working with their healthcare providers to achieve and maintain target uric acid levels.

Start your journey with gout today via the Gout Education Society website and sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Follow the Gout Education Society on X and Facebook

Looking for nearby gout specialists? Find rheumatologists, nephrologists and more via the Gout Specialists Network.

Educational Materials:

Gout Patient Brochure

Medical Professional Guide

Listen to episode 2, When Gout Becomes Hard to Manage - What to Expect, now.

Podcast Transcript

Ian PonitzHello, and welcome to Kicking Gout in the Acid, a podcast from the Gout Education Society. My name is Ian Ponitz, and I'm your host for this series. Kicking Gout in the Acid features conversations between Dr. Larry Edwards, chairman and CEO of the Gout Education Society, and experts on the disease. Each episode will dive into important topics that you, the listener, should know about gout.

The goal is to feel empowered to get gout under control. In this episode, Dr. Edwards will be joined by Dr. Brian Mandel, a rheumatologist from the Cleveland Clinic, to provide an overview of the disease, talk more about its management, and the long-term effects on the body over time if it's not properly treated. Dr. Edwards, take it from here.

Dr. Larry EdwardsThanks, Ian. Today, I'm joined by a fellow member of the board of the Gout Education Society, Dr. Brian Mandel, from the Cleveland Clinic. Brian, let me have you introduce yourself. Just tell a little bit about your interest in gout and what you do at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Brian MandellThanks, Larry. Of course, it's nice to be here with you, talking about a disease that I have been fascinated with for almost as long as you have been. But my interests do go back quite a ways, which is an interesting tale. In fact, I started doing research on gout as an undergraduate in college, fascinated by the inflammatory response to urate crystals, which was quite dynamic and dramatic in rabbits. And I've moved on since to deal not so much with rabbits but much more with people. So, I have a longstanding interest in the mechanism of the disease and the treatment of the disease. And I'm currently a rheumatologist and a medical educator at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, maintaining my interest in gout with patients and clinical trials as well.

Dr. Larry EdwardsThanks, Brian. Great to have you here. I think a great place for us to start off would be with a definition of what gout is. I know that the Gout Education Society has done surveys of patients and the lay public about their thoughts on gout. There are always lots of misconceptions that a lot of people think that when there's pain going on in a joint that they have gout,