of how dangerous hyperuricemia is.” Konshin continued. “Historically, it was thought that hyperuricemia was harmless, perhaps even beneficial, but recent research has shown that hyperuricemia is associated with serious diseases. Doctors often do not treat gout correctly and hyperuricemia at all.

“One study found that doctors made significant errors when treating gout patients 78 percent of the time. The seriousness of gout is often under appreciated by general practitioners. Uncontrolled gout may result in severe and permanent joint damage and large growths of uric acid crystals called tophi.”

Nasty side effects
Konshin says the typical treatment for gout includes prescribing a medication called colchicine, which is not very effective and has “nasty” side effects including severe nausea, diarrhea and vomiting and does not treat the underlying hyperuricemia.

“When doctors do give the right medications, they usually prescribe it at the wrong doses and that causes additional problems, such as an increase in gout attacks which causes patients to stop taking their medication,” he says.

Also, when doctors run blood work to check for hyperuricemia, Konshin says the lab results often aren’t accurate because the “normal” range is skewed. “When doctors get blood results back, the labs show a ‘normal range’ for uric acid levels. This normal range is calculated from the results of all the other patients tested. However, since so many people have high levels, that skews the normal range upward. Anything above a 6 mg/dL is too high, but lab results often come back showing levels as high as 8.5 mg/dL as being normal.”

Konshin suggests that people ask their doctors what their level is and that anyone whose uric acid level is above 6 mg/dL should ask their doctor regarding what action to take to lower their uric acid level.

Research shows about 90 percent of people with hyperuricemia have it because of a genetic condition, accrding to Konshin. “But some types of leukemia, kidney diseases and metabolic disease can cause hyperuricemia," he says. "Some of these can be fatal so your doctor needs to rule. Also some medications such as diuretics used to treat high blood pressure can increase uric acidity. So it is important for your doctor to see if any of these are present.”

One myth is that diet plays a key role in controlling hyperuricemia and gout, Konshin said, adding that the two conditions are only slightly influenced by diet. “Diet does have an affect, but it’s a much smaller role than most doctors think today,” he says. “Diet can trigger attacks, but you usually