Cardiovascular risk in gout: time for action

The painful truth of gout is that it has evolved from being a disease of the kings to that of the masses. Gout affects 2·3% and 4·0% adults in the UK and USA respectively, with greater prevalence reported elsewhere.1,2 Gout has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,3 but questions have remained over how this risk varies across different cardiovascular diseases, and whether other risk factors such as hypertension and obesity might play a role.