High Uric Acid in Blood Test - Testing For Gout

A test for high uric acid in blood may be called for when your doctor suspects that you may be suffering from gout. Recurring gout attacks can lead to permanently damaged joints and damaged kidneys, so it's important always to get diagnosed by your doctor. Here, you'll discover what causes high uric acid, what blood and urine tests can reveal, and, a summary of both drug-based and natural treatments for gout. A blood test on its own will indicate measured levels of uric acid in your blood. This will tell the doctor whether you have higher-than-normal uric acid levels, and thus gout. But a combined test which measures the levels of uric acid in both your blood and your urine can give an indication whether it's your kidneys that aren't working efficiently enough, or, that there is too much "purines" being produced in your body in the first place.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Halted: Researcher Invents Nontoxic Drug That Forces Hyperactive Immune Cells To Die

A researcher from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has invented a novel way to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis. He developed an imitation of a suicide molecule that floats undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for the disease. Whimsically referred to as Casper the Ghost, the stealthy molecule causes the immune cells to self-destruct. The approach, tested on mice, doesn't carry the health risks of current treatments. "This new therapy stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the mice, " reported Harris Perlman, the lead author and an associate professor of medicine at Feinberg. "The best part was we didn't see any toxicity.

Most Patients Gain Weight After Getting A New Knee

You'd think folks who've had knee replacement surgery -- finally able to walk and exercise without pain -- would lose weight instead of put on pounds, but surprisingly that's not the case, according to a University of Delaware study. Researchers Joseph Zeni and Lynn Snyder-Mackler in the Department of Physical Therapy in UD's College of Health Sciences found that patients typically drop weight in the first few weeks after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but then the number on the scale starts creeping upward, with an average weight gain of 14 pounds in two years. The study, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, is reported in the Jan.

Biomarker Could Help Doctors Tailor Treatment For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Investigators have identified a biomarker that could help doctors select patients with rheumatoid arthritis who will benefit from therapy with drugs such as Enbrel, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-antagonist drug. The study, led by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery in collaboration with rheumatologists at University of Southern California, appears in the February issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism. "While our study was performed on a relatively small group of patients and will need to be confirmed in a larger cohort, the data are promising and may be clinically significant for the medical management of patients, " said Mary K.

Pediatric Rheumatology: Mortality Rates Significantly Lower Than Previously Reported

A recent study by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic found that the overall mortality rate in the U.S. for all pediatric patients with rheumatic diseases was not worse than the age and sex-adjusted population. Furthermore, mortality rates were significantly lower than reported in previous studies of rheumatic diseases and conditions that are associated with increased mortality. Details of the study appear in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology. The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) estimates that 300, 000 children in the U.