Diuretics do not seem to help gout management says new study

Diuretics, such as loop agents and thiazides, do not have a significant effect on managing gout, according to research in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

A total of 245 people were classified according to the type of urate-lowering drugs prescribed: 208 people were treated with allopurinol (66 on diuretics), 35 people were treated with febuxostat (19 on diuretics) and two were treated with benzbromarone.

Few people in the allopurinol plus diuretics subgroup achieved serum urate levels of less than 5mg/dL. There were no other significant differences in serum urate targets associated with diuretics.

“Both loop agents and thiazides are diuretics that are commonly prescribed in patients with gout and have often been associated with impaired response to allopurinol and refractoriness, prompting recommendations for their discontinuation when possible,” says Dr Ranieri, who is involved in the work. “Diuretics do not appear to have a significant impact on managing gout.”

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