From the Lancet

I thought I had read somewhere that British noblemen were prone to gout because of their lead goblets. This makes me feel like I should cut down on those nightly Old Styles:

FINDINGS: We documented 730 confirmed incident cases of gout. Compared with men who did not drink alcohol, the multivariate relative risk (RR) of gout was 1.32 (95% CI 0.99-1.75) for alcohol consumption 10.0-14.9 g/day, 1.49 (1.14-1.94) for 15.0-29.9 g/day, 1.96 (1.48-2.60) for 30.0-49.9 g/day, and 2.53 (1.73-3.70) for > or =50 g/day (p for trend <0.0001). Beer consumption showed the strongest independent association with the risk of gout (multivariate RR per 12-oz serving per day 1.49; 95% CI 1.32-1.70). Consumption of spirits was also significantly associated with gout (multivariate RR per drink or shot per day 1.15; 95% CI 1.04-1.28); however, wine consumption was not (multivariate RR per 4-oz serving per day 1.04; 95% CI 0.88-1.22). INTERPRETATION: Alcohol intake is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout. This risk varies substantially according to type of alcoholic beverage: beer confers a larger risk than spirits, whereas moderate wine drinking does not increase the risk.

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