A new study found that patients with gout who
consumed cherries over a two-day period showed a 35%
lower risk of gout attacks compared to those who did
not eat the fruit.
Findings from this case-crossover study published in
Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American
College of Rheumatology (ACR), also suggest that
risk of gout flares was 75% lower when cherry intake
was combined with the uric-acid reducing drug,
allopurinol, than in periods without exposure to
cherries or treatment.
Previous research reports that 8.3 million adults in
the U.S. suffer with gout, an inflammatory arthritis
triggered by a crystallization of uric acid within
the joints that causes excruciating pain and
swelling. While there are many treatment options
available, gout patients continue to be burdened by
recurrent gout attacks, prompting patients and
investigators to seek other preventive options such
as cherries. Prior studies suggest that cherry
products have urate-lowering effects and
anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the
potential to reduce gout pain. However, no study has
yet to assess whether cherry consumption could lower
risk of gout attacks.
For the present study, lead author Dr. Yuqing Zhang,
Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston
University and colleagues recruited 633 gout
patients who were followed online for one year.
Participants were asked about the date of gout
onset, symptoms, medications and risk factors,
including cherry and cherry extract intake in the
two days prior to the gout attack. A cherry serving
was one half cup or 10 to 12 cherries.
Participants had a mean age of 54 years, with 88%
being white and 78% of subjects were male. Of those
subjects with some form of cherry intake, 35% ate
fresh cherries, 2% ingested cherry extract, and 5%
consumed both fresh cherry fruit and cherry extract.
Researchers documented 1,247 gout attacks during the
one-year follow-up period, with 92% occurring in the
joint at the base of the big toe.
"Our findings indicate that consuming cherries or
cherry extract lowers the risk of gout attack," said
Dr. Zhang. "The gout flare risk continued to
decrease with increasing cherry consumption, up to
three servings over two days." The authors found
that further cherry intake did not provide any
additional benefit. However, the protective effect
of cherry intake persisted after taking into account
patients' sex, body mass (obesity), purine intake,
along with use of alcohol, diuretics and anti-gout
medications.
In their editorial, also published in Arthritis &
Rheumatism, Dr. Allan Gelber from Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. and
Dr. Daniel Solomon from Brigham and Women's Hospital
and Harvard University Medical School in Boston,
Mass. highlight the importance of the study by Zhang
et al. as it focuses on dietary intake and risk of
recurrent gout attacks. While the current findings
are promising, Gelber and Solomon "would not advise
that patients who suffer from gout attacks abandon
standard therapies." Both the editorial and study
authors concur that randomized clinical trials are
necessary to confirm that consumption of cherry
products could prevent gout attacks.
This research was funded by grants from the National
Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin
Diseases (NIAMS), Arthritis Foundation and ACR
Research and Education Fund.
Full citation:"Cherry Consumption and the Risk of
Recurrent Gout Attacks." Yuqing Zhang, Tuhina Neogi,
Clara Chen, Christine Chaisson, David Hunter, Hyon
K. Choi. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online:
September 28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34677).
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34677
Editorial: "If Life Serves Up a Bowl of Cherries,
and Gout Attacks are "The Pits"… Implications for
Therapy." Allan C. Gelber and Daniel H. Solomon.
Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: September
28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34676)
.http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34676.
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