The side effects of certain drugs can make some gout patients quit treatment. Fortunately, there may be one drug that stops the painful flare-ups sometimes associated with gout treatment.

When it comes to cleaning a dirty dish, more scrubbing is needed to get it clean than to keep it clean. It could be similar when it comes to getting rid of the urate crystals associated with gout.

Patients that develop a common heart arrhythmia may benefit from an unexpected drug. A medication used to treat gout appears to reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation following heart surgery.

Over the past couple decades, advances in technology have made it easer to detect all sorts of conditions, including gout. But some tests do not always work. One type of X-ray can spot gout where other tests miss it.

Uncomfortable shoes can leave your feet aching, especially if you have a painful condition like gout. Wearing the right kind of footwear could be the difference between mobility and disability.

Wearing shoes that lack support and cushioning can worsen foot pain in people with gout, a type of arthritis marked by sudden attacks of severe pain in joints, especially in the feet.

Gout, formerly linked with Europe's royal families, has made its way to middle America. Since 1990, U.S. cases have increased by 50 percent, making it a modern-day royal pain in the joints.

Not all fat is created equal, especially when it comes to men with excessive weight around the middle. Some with added belly fat may be at an increased risk of developing heart disease and other serious health problems.

The biologic drug canakinumab (Ilaris) does work in treating acute flares of gout but is found to be too risky to warrant Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

Gout may be difficult for doctors to diagnose because symptoms can mimic or coexist with many other conditions including psoriasis, nodular rheumatoid disease and other joint diseases.