Gout and me.

Gout visited me for the first time in 1998. I woke with a golf ball lodged beneath the skin of my left big tow joint, and the most horrific scenario imaginable was if an ant might elect to crawl slowly across the oh-so-sensitive protuberance.

In contrast to the advice dispensed in this link, my GP, Dr. Oakengruber, informed me that gout is primarily genetic; your body deals with uric acid, or it doesn't, and you suffer accordingly. In this view, the disease of kings was less attributable to their uncommonly rich diets as their inbreeding and hierarchical position at the top of society, where courtesans were there to hear them moan. Meanwhile, farm workers were in no position to be heard or to phone in sick. They merely endured.

I had an aftershock while clamboring across Estonian cobblestones in 1999, and maybe a slight reminder a couple of years back. Otherwise, my gout is manageable with Allopurinol, a prescription drug of considerable longevity. It helps dispose of uric acid before the unresolved bits migrate to a relatively cool nook and morph into millions of tiny razor blades.

Let's drink to relief from gout, shall we?

Gout's on the rise – so how can you avoid it?, by Sarah Boseley (The Guardian)

This excruciatingly painful condition now affects 1.6 million people in the UK. Beer can bring it on, but so can wine and even some 'healthy' foods.