Dr. Paul Waytz

People thought the same thing with hydroxychloroquine or Plaquenil, which is a drug that's used to treat malaria because people said, well, you know, TB is kind of like malaria. And in fact, Plaquenil is still a great drug for rheumatoid arthritis. And then people realized that there were a lot of side effects with gold and a lot of people were escaping, even if they benefited from it.

People thought the same thing with hydroxychloroquine or Plaquenil, which is a drug that's used to treat malaria because people said, well, you know, TB is kind of like malaria. And in fact, Plaquenil is still a great drug for rheumatoid arthritis. And then people realized that there were a lot of side effects with gold and a lot of people were escaping, even if they benefited from it.

And people said, well, one way to really treat inflammation is to give them a cancer drug. which is when the drug methotrexate began being used for rheumatoid arthritis, which, you know, once again, like many medicines, changed our lives because low doses of methotrexate, as opposed to cancer treating dosages, reduce inflammation. It works in a different way than treating cancers.

And people said, well, one way to really treat inflammation is to give them a cancer drug. which is when the drug methotrexate began being used for rheumatoid arthritis, which, you know, once again, like many medicines, changed our lives because low doses of methotrexate, as opposed to cancer treating dosages, reduce inflammation. It works in a different way than treating cancers.

And then all of a sudden, after a couple of decades of methotrexate, people were again escaping. And that's when the development of all the MAB drugs, infliximab and adalimumab and all these drugs that end in MAB, the monoclonal drugs that you see advertised. And they

And then all of a sudden, after a couple of decades of methotrexate, people were again escaping. And that's when the development of all the MAB drugs, infliximab and adalimumab and all these drugs that end in MAB, the monoclonal drugs that you see advertised. And they

are once again changing how we look at things because they do a really, really good job of preventing inflammation from getting to the joint and other areas. So I don't know if that's kind of the long answer to the question, but we've evolved and we've continued to evolve so that when I retired 10 years ago, I think there were four biologics, which is the big group named

are once again changing how we look at things because they do a really, really good job of preventing inflammation from getting to the joint and other areas. So I don't know if that's kind of the long answer to the question, but we've evolved and we've continued to evolve so that when I retired 10 years ago, I think there were four biologics, which is the big group named

And now there's probably 10 and more in the pipeline that work on different aspects of inflammation that produce the cells, the angry cells that chew up the joint.

And now there's probably 10 and more in the pipeline that work on different aspects of inflammation that produce the cells, the angry cells that chew up the joint.

You know, I will send you a check in the mail for answering that question because gout is caused by an excess of uric acid. And we all make uric acid. Some people make more uric acid than others. And some of that's genetic or familial. Some it's because they eat too much of the wrong food, especially fatty foods, which helps the buildup of uric acid.

You know, I will send you a check in the mail for answering that question because gout is caused by an excess of uric acid. And we all make uric acid. Some people make more uric acid than others. And some of that's genetic or familial. Some it's because they eat too much of the wrong food, especially fatty foods, which helps the buildup of uric acid.

Alcohol can increase the production of uric acid and slow down the ability for kidneys to get rid of uric acid such that uric acid will build up in a joint and uric acid becomes a needle-like crystal in the joint. And at some point, those needles, those crystals incite an inflammatory response. It's a different kind of inflammation than with rheumatoid arthritis, but it's very...

Alcohol can increase the production of uric acid and slow down the ability for kidneys to get rid of uric acid such that uric acid will build up in a joint and uric acid becomes a needle-like crystal in the joint. And at some point, those needles, those crystals incite an inflammatory response. It's a different kind of inflammation than with rheumatoid arthritis, but it's very...

It's a terrible situation where people have severe pain, redness, warmth, and swelling. Now you can treat that, or it will go away on its own after two weeks. But the uric acid stays there. And with time, the uric acid, if it left untreated, will affect multiple joints and can cause as much damage as rheumatoid arthritis. And nodules, just like some people get with rheumatoid arthritis.

It's a terrible situation where people have severe pain, redness, warmth, and swelling. Now you can treat that, or it will go away on its own after two weeks. But the uric acid stays there. And with time, the uric acid, if it left untreated, will affect multiple joints and can cause as much damage as rheumatoid arthritis. And nodules, just like some people get with rheumatoid arthritis.

So it basically starts with uric acid. And the reason I thank you for asking that is gout is a treatable condition. We have wonderful medications, low risk, low side effect profile, that will lower the uric acid. And if you can get to people, again, before the damage, you can prevent problems with gout. Now, I'll tell you a story. You have to take those medications lifelong.

So it basically starts with uric acid. And the reason I thank you for asking that is gout is a treatable condition. We have wonderful medications, low risk, low side effect profile, that will lower the uric acid. And if you can get to people, again, before the damage, you can prevent problems with gout. Now, I'll tell you a story. You have to take those medications lifelong.

There was a lineman for the Vikings who I saw as a patient who had gout. And he had it in a couple of joints. We made the diagnosis. I put him on the medication. He took it. He felt great, you know, and this was a tough guy, really tough guy. He felt so great. Like many people do. He said, I don't need this medication.

There was a lineman for the Vikings who I saw as a patient who had gout. And he had it in a couple of joints. We made the diagnosis. I put him on the medication. He took it. He felt great, you know, and this was a tough guy, really tough guy. He felt so great. Like many people do. He said, I don't need this medication.