14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new study by researchers with the Division of Rheumatology, Orthopedics and Dermatology at the Nottingham University, it would appear that gout can be passed on from generation to generation, usually within the same family.
The finding is extremely important because scientists until now thought that gout was only the result of a very unhealthy lifestyle, where people indulge in some foods plentifully, while completely ignoring vegetables, salads and the likes.
In a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, the team says that the study covered 23 million people, the entire population of Taiwan. The work revealed that most of the 4.2 million suffering from this condition are clustered in specific families.
“Our results confirm the clinical belief that gout strongly clusters within families. In Taiwan the risk of an individual with any first-degree relative suffering from gout is approximately twice that of the normal population,” explains Dr. Chang Fu Kuo, the lead researcher on the study.