Date published: 2008/02/01
The BBC says:
Sugary drinks have been blamed for a surge in cases of the painful joint disease gout.
Men who consume two or more sugary soft drinks a day have an 85% higher risk of gout compared with those who drink less than one a month, a study suggests.
Cases in the US have doubled in recent decades and it seems fructose, a type of sugar, may be to blame, the British Medical Journal study reports.
UK experts said those with gout would be advised to cut out sugary drinks.
About 1.5% of the UK population currently suffers from gout and there has been an increase in numbers over the last 30 years - although the condition is more associated with Victorian times.
The symptoms of painful, swollen joints, mainly in the lower limbs, are caused when uric acid crystallises out of the blood into the joints.
US and Canadian researchers said the increase in cases had coincided with a substantial rise in the consumption of soft drinks.
Previous research had also shown that fructose increases levels of uric acid in the bloodstream.
To look in more detail, the team carried out a 12-year study of 46,000 men aged 40 years and over with no history of gout, asking them regular questionnaires about their diet.
Over the period, 755 newly diagnosed cases of gout were reported.
The risk of developing the condition was significantly increased with an intake level of five to six servings of sugary soft drink per week.
This link was independent of other risk factors for gout such as body mass index, age, high blood pressure and alcohol intake.
Diet soft drinks did not increase the risk of gout but fruit juice and fructose rich fruits (apples and oranges) were associated with a higher risk, the researchers said.
But this finding needs to be balanced against the benefit of fruit and vegetables in preventing other chronic disorders like heart disease and stroke.
Potentially a classic confusion between correlation and causation. But here they have independent reasons for looking at fructose, so they are on somewhat safer ground. As usual, though, the question is whether the dis-benefit towards one disease outweighs potential benefits towards other diseases. The message, as always, is to consume everything in moderation (and here at least they have quantified what that means, to some extent). And to put the numbers in context, less than 2% of the 46000 men in the study had newly diagnosed cases of gout. As usual, these health studies focus on small minorities and end up trying to scare everyone into changing the way they live.
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