This handbook discusses developments and the future of gout treatment which looks promising.
Gout has been a well-known disease for over 2000 years and is the most common cause of joint
inflammation in adult males. It has become apparent that no therapeutic target based on
hyperuricemia outcome had been defined. Very few controlled trials were available to test the
efficacy and safety of treatments and no research on diagnosis and management had been done
despite data showing that patients with gout were generally improperly treated even in the
hands of specialists. In the last 10 years good-quality evidence on gout impact and management
has grown exponentially renal transporters have been recently identified and a number of new
drugs have been approved or are under current development.
