lcohol Consumption as a Trigger of Recurrent out Attacks

ACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption has long been considered a trigger for recurrent gout attacks; owever, this hypothesis has not been formally tested. ETHODS: We conducted an Internet-based case-crossover study to assess several putative risk factors, ncluding alcohol consumption, thought to trigger recurrent gout attacks. Subjects who had an attack within he past year were recruited online and asked to provide access to medical records pertaining to their gout. ata were obtained on the amount and type of alcoholic beverage consumed on each day over the 2-day eriod before a gout attack and on each day over a 2-day period during the intercritical period. We xamined the amount and type of alcohol consumption and the risk of recurrent gout attacks using a onditional logistic regression adjusting for diuretic use and purine intake. ESULTS: A total of 197 subjects were recruited online over a 10-month period. Of those, 179 (91%) ulfilled the American College of Rheumatology Criteria for gout. Compared with no alcohol consumption, dds ratios for recurrent gout attacks were 1.1, 0.9, 2.0, and 2.5 for 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 6, and 7 or more rinks consumed over the 2-day period, respectively (P .005). A dose-response relationship of risk of out attacks was more evident for alcohol consumed over the last 24 hours. An increased risk of recurrent out attacks was found for each type of beverage consumed. ONCLUSION: Alcohol consumption triggers recurrent gout attacks. This effect was likely to occur ithin 24 hours after its consumption. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.