8. Medicines
Obviously medicine is not food, but can be considered part of our diet as we regularly ingest high amounts of medicine. The list of drugs that increase the risk of gout attacks is long, so we will take a look only at those most frequently used.
Aspirin, used for prevention of heart disease by one-third of middle-aged Americans, increases the risk of gout attacks by 50%. Not all aspirin users have the problem of uric acid increase, but those who do should look for their doctor’s advice since there are medicines that can successfully prevent heart disease while not affecting uric acid levels.
Certain diuretic drugs (most often used for the treatment of hypertension or heart failure) also increase the amount of uric acid in the blood (subsequently increasing the risk of gout).
