Gout Dictionary

Please see the GoutPal.com Gout Dictionary for the most up-to-date definitions of gout related terms.

Abbreviation	Term	Definition
RCT	Randomised controlled trial	Used to test different forms of treatment (or one treatment against no treatment). Participants are randomly allocated to different groups. Groups are treated exactly the same except for the treatments being tested. Where possible, participants do not know which treatment group they are in (double blinding).
sUr	serum urate concentrations	The amount of uric acid in your blood. There are 2 common scales – mmol/L and mg/dL.
antihyperuricemic	antihyperuricemic	Something, normally a drug, that lowers uric acid levels in the blood.
Hydrochlorothiazide	Hydrochlorothiazide	A diuretic, or water pill, commonly used to treat high blood pressure. This can increase the risk of gout attacks by increasing the concentration of uric acid in the blood. Gout patients should ask their doctor to prescribe alternative blood pressure reducing medication.
Renal	Renal	Related to the kidneys and their function.
CPPD	Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease	Similar symptoms to gout, but totally different cause. Some gout pain relievers may help, but uric acid lowering treatments are useless (unless you have gout as well). Similarities lead to the common name of pseudogout (AKA pseudo gout, sudogout and sudo gout) – see http://www.goutpal.com/pseudo-gout.html
immunosuppressant	immunosuppressant	Something that suppresses the immune system. As gout pain is an immune system response, these suppressants might be useful, however, they risk reducing the body’s ability to fight other diseases.
refractory	refractory	Resistant to control – often used to describe medical conditions that do not respond to conventional treatments.
aetiology	aetiology	Causes or origins of diseases
pathogenesis	pathogenesis	Development of diseases
demyelinating	demyelinating	Destroying the myelin sheath that surrounds nerves.