New figures suggest that hospital admissions for gout have surged due to binge-eating and exercising less during the lockdowns. The Daily Mail has more.
The number of cases has risen by 20% in three years, with 234,000 patients admitted to hospital with gout in 2021/22, NHS Digital statistics show.
There has also been a significant rise in obesity over the same period.
Experts said many spent more time sitting down during the Covid lockdowns and might have eaten more snacks and junk food while working from home.
Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes sudden and severe joint pain.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, told The Sunday Telegraph: “Forget Falstaff, Henry VIII and the rich Victorians who made gout infamous.
“Today’s Elizabethans are eating and drinking them all under the table.”
Gout is one of mankind’s oldest known diseases and dates back to the Egyptians.
Symptoms include sudden and severe joint pain, usually in your big toe but can also be found in other joints in your feet, hands, wrists, elbow or knees.
Some people may also suffer hot, swollen, red skin over the affected joint.
It is caused from having too much uric acid in the body, which can lead to deposits of sodium urate crystals forming in and around the joints, causing pain and discomfort.
It can lead to excruciating pain but is usually treatable with medication such as ibuprofen, or steroids if the pain and swelling do not improve.
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