I’ve written about gout a few times over at Help My Hurt (Hope for people who have gout and Your coffee may help prevent gout). It’s a very painful condition of the joints and it most often hits the big toe, although it can affect other joints as well  (ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows). More men get it than women.

Your body produces uric acid, a waste product that’s in your blood and urine. The uric acid can build up and cause stiff, swollen, red joints. If you’ve ever had a gout attack, you’ll likely do just about anything to prevent another.

A new study has shown that vitamin C may help reduce the risk of gout in men. The study, which appeared in the latest issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine , involved following almost 47,000 men from 1986 to 2006. Over the 20 years, the men completed questionnaires about their diet and supplements and every two years, they reported in as to whether they had been diagnosed with gout.

The researchers found that those who took the most vitamin C had the lowest risk of developing gout. Out of the entire grouop, 1,317 men were diagnosed with gout within the 20-year period. When the researchers looked at who took vitamin C and at what level, they found a reduction of risk of 17% with every 500 mg of increase in vitamin C. The amounts of vitamin C ranged from less than 250 mg to over 1,500 mg per day.

It’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean men should run out and start consuming large amounts of vitamin C. Like everything, moderation is the key. If you want to take the maximum recommended doses of vitamin C, it’s best to speak with your doctor first, to ensure that all is well, lest you cause another problem while trying to avoid getting gout.

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As we get older we are less likely to throw things away. This was a great problem with my mother, if she couldn’t use something well maybe someone else could.

I remember going into her medicine chest to get an aspirin and all of these bottles fell out, scary isn’t it?

Upon looking at her medications, I found that some were outdated others written by different doctors, they were also purchased at different pharmacies.

I had to convince her to let me toss the outdated medications, we also called the doctors and pharmacies to see if she was putting herself in harms way.

If you see more then one doctor you should always supply them with a complete list of your medications. The list needs to include vitamins as well as herbs, because they may react to other prescriptions, always use the same pharmacy.

When you are dealing with the elderly they usually have heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. We need to check their medications often to see that they are not outdated or going to react to each other, this could be life threatening.

So what is the risk of a medication interaction? It all depends on how many medications you take. Two medications have a 5% potential of an adverse drug reaction, five medications have a 50% chance, and eight medications gives almost a 100% chance that something will go wrong. But who takes eight medications? As it turns out, plenty of people do; many of them are elderly and have a variety of medical illnesses. A couple of blood pressure medications, another couple for diabetes, one for gout, an aspirin a day; then add an antibiotic, and the potential for problems is there. It just needs to be recognized.

We need to remember that our bodies are a breeding ground for drug interactions.

You will find more information by clicking here Medicine Chest.