Gout and Erectile Dysfunction: The Hidden Uric Acid Connection You know about the toe pain. You know about the swelling, the redness, the 3 a.m. wake-up calls when even a bedsheet feels like sandpaper. But there is a good chance nobody mentioned what high uric acid might be doing below the belt. Research from the … Read more
HRT Lowers Uric Acid. Does That Mean It Can Prevent Gout? If you went through menopause and your uric acid crept up, you might have wondered: could hormone replacement therapy (HRT) bring it back down? After all, estrogen helps your kidneys flush out uric acid. When estrogen drops after menopause, uric acid rises. So could … Read more
A 49-Year-Old Woman’s Heart Was Failing. Nobody Checked Her Uric Acid. Her ejection fraction was 17%. For context, a healthy heart pumps out 50 to 70% of its blood with each beat. Hers was barely squeezing out a sixth. She had biventricular dilatation, severe tricuspid regurgitation, and a BNP of 12,029 pg/mL (normal is under … Read more
The Drink Nobody Warns You About When most women hear “gout triggers,” they picture beer, steak, and shellfish. But there is a trigger hiding in plain sight on grocery store shelves, one that raises uric acid through a different pathway than alcohol. And for women, especially after menopause, it may matter more than anything in … Read more
Your Hand Hurts. Your Doctor Says Arthritis. But What If It’s Gout? Picture this: a 58-year-old woman wakes up with a swollen, throbbing knuckle on her right hand. She cannot grip her coffee mug. The pain started overnight, and her finger looks red and angry. She goes to her doctor, who glances at it and … Read more
Women with gout are twice as likely as men to be taking diuretics. Discover why thiazide diuretics trigger gout differently in women, why doctors miss the diagnosis, and what to ask your doctor.