Gout Flares Linked to Transient Jump in MI, Stroke Risk
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There is evidence that gout and heart disease are mechanistically linked by inflammation and patients with gout are at elevated risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease. But do gout flares, on their own, affect short-term risk for CV events? A new analysis based on records from British medical practices suggests that might be the case. Risk for myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke climbed in the weeks after individual gout flare-ups in the study's more than 60,000 patients with a recent gout diagnosis. The jump in risk, significant but small in absolute terms, held for about 4 months in the case–control study before going away.
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@mala The observational study isn't able to show that gout flares themselves transiently raise the risk for MI or stroke, but it's enough to send a cautionary message to physicians who care for patients with gout.