‘Gout’, a disease that hurts even when the wind blows it, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease

As modern people’s eating habits become westernized and the obesity rate increases, the prevalence of gout is also on the rise. Gout is an inflammatory arthritis that occurs when the concentration of uric acid in the blood increases and urate crystals are deposited in the cartilage, tendons, and surrounding tissues of the joint. If the joint is inflamed, it causes seizures accompanied by excruciating pain and usually normalizes after 7 days, but continuous management is required because the recurrence rate is high and it progresses to chronic arthritis. In addition to joints, it is accompanied by various complications related to metabolic syndrome.

In the midst of this, a joint research team led by Professor Shin Ki-cheol and Kim Min-jung of the Department of Rheumatology at Boramae Hospital and Professor Ki-won Moon of the Department of Rheumatology at Kangwon National University Hospital used the database of the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort to compare 3,306 patients diagnosed with gout and A normal control group of the same size matched with age and gender was selected as the study subject and followed for about 6 years from 2010 to 2015. Then, the onset of cardiovascular disease according to the presence or absence of gout using ‘multivariate Cox regression analysis’ As a result of comparative analysis of the difference in risk (HR, Hazard Ratio), it was revealed on the 17th that gout patients had a three-fold higher rate of hypertension patients compared to normal controls, and that the rates of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and chronic renal failure were also relatively high.

A significant association between gout and cardiovascular disease was found in the multivariate Cox regression analysis, which adjusted for several factors, such as age, sex, and comorbidities that differed from baseline.

Subjects with gout had a 1.86-fold higher risk of developing ischemic heart disease and a 3.24-fold and 1.55-fold higher risk of acute myocardial infarction and stroke, respectively, than the normal control group. considered to be a risk factor. In addition, old age, smokers, frequent drinking, high LDL cholesterol levels and diabetes were found to be major risk factors for cardiovascular disease in gout patients. On the other hand, uric acid-lowering therapy was found to reduce the risk of stroke in gout patients.

Professor Shin Ki-cheol said, “This study is very meaningful in that it is the first study to prove the relationship between gout and the risk of cardiovascular disease in gout patients in Korea.” expression is promoted, and it is speculated that this may also have a partial effect on the development of cardiovascular disease.” “Therefore, it will be of great help for patients with gout to prevent various cardiovascular diseases in the future by regularly managing their uric acid levels along with active treatment for cardiovascular disease risk factors.”

The results of this study were published in the latest issue of ‘Journal of Clinical Medicine’, an SCI-level international academic journal.

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