Micha Abeles is a practicing rheumatologist in Connecticut. In this blog, Micha talks about the benefits of marriage in terms of controlling your gout.

1. YOUR GOUT
MEDICINES MAY
WORK BETTER IF
YOU’RE MARRIED
Micha Abeles

2. FOR PATIENTS WITH GOUT,
being married appears to increase urate-lowering therapy
adherence, according to a study published by Xin Hui
Jasmine Chua, Siriwan Lim, Fui Ping Lim, and Yee Nah Anita
Lim, in the June 15 edition of Journal of Clinical Nursing,
which in an international online journal that serves as the
voice of nursing research, theory and practice.

3. FIRST OF ALL,
WHAT IS URATE?
Urate, which is a waste product of too much uric acid
buildup in the body, usually contributes to gout. As a
waste product, your kidneys typically flush out this
acid by passing urine. However, if your kidneys aren’t
flushing out enough of this acid or if your body is
producing too much, it can lead to the development
urate crystals. These sharp deposits can accumulate
around your soft tissues and joints, which can
encourage the development of gout. Since gout is the
most common type of chronic inflammatory arthritis,
nearly all patients participate in urate-lowering
therapy to treat it.

4. WHAT IS URATE-
LOWERING THERAPY?
This type of therapy is supposed to reduce uric acid
levels, which should ease the pain of gout. However,
adherence to this therapy among patients is poor
because there isn’t enough research out there that
shows this method of treatment actually helps with
gout. However, Xin Hui Jasmine Chua, R.N., from the
National University Hospital in Singapore, and his
colleagues conducted a correlation study to provide
more insight into this type of treatment.

5. ABOUT THE STUDY
Chua’s study involved a sample of 108 patients in
Singapore with gout. Although the study fixated
among age, gender and the presence of other
diseases that may influence gout treatment, the
researchers discovered something unusual. They found
that nearly half of participants (at 44.4 percent) were
high adherers to urate-lowering therapy, and their
marital status showed a significant difference in their
medication adherence score. The difference in
adherence to urate-lowering therapy among married
patients was much higher compared to unmarried
patients.

6. ABOUT THE STUDY
Although further research needs to be conducted to
support this finding, this discovery does make sense to
the everyday person. If you’re married, it’s likely your
spouse is there to remind you to take your
medications, and they may reprimand you if you don’t.
Thus, this may increase the likelihood of a higher
medication adherence score in patients since they are
more likely to be in the habit of taking their
medications.

7. DO YOU HAVE A SPOUSE
THAT REMINDS YOU TO TAKE
YOUR MEDICATIONS? DON’T
FORGET TO THANK THEM!

8. MICHAABELES.COM