If an illness can have a stereotype, gout has one: its poster boy is a portly, wealthy gentleman who drinks too much red wine and eats too much rich food. In literature, gout is an Epicurean affliction, the runoff of opulence and “disease of kings.”
In fact, gout attacks the poor as well as the rich; it’s more like a creepy shadow that follows other diseases, piggybacks off of their risk factors, and kicks sick people when they’re down. It is also becoming more common. Read more