ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the prevalence of primary gout in the Shantou area, China, and to understand its clinical features.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Samples from three surveys of the Chenghai across ten years were studied. Clinical, laboratory and radiology data of 419 cases of primary gout were collected and analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Prevalence of primary gout in the three surveys were 0.17%, 0.15% and 0.26%, respectively. Among the clinical patients, the ratio of male to female was 21:1; the average age of onset of women was significantly higher than that of men. The number of cases in the last ten years has been increasing. In the first wave of cases, the first metatarsophalangeal joint was involved in 82.1% of all cases; no fourth metatarsophalangeal joint involvement had been observed. Hyperlipemia was the most common accompanying abnormal laboratory test (57.1%). Radiographic bone erosion was found in 49.4% patients, most of them with disease duration more than 5 years.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The prevalence of primary gout in Shantou area has been increasing in the last ten years. Changes in diet and lifestyle may be responsible for this rapid increase.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , China , Epidemiology , Gout , Diagnostic Imaging , Epidemiology , RadiographyABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the reasonable use of triptorygium wilformed hoof F(TⅡ) and other slow acting antirheumatic drugs(SAARDs).Method Sixty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA) treated by TⅡ and SAARDs included methotrexate(MTX),sulfasalize (SSZ),azathioprine(AZA) with single or combination among them and followed-up for four years.Results One of SAARDs single therapy was favorable for most RA patients,combined use was needed only in 28 percent cases.Conclusions Based on the heterogeneity of RA, the therapeutic schadule should be altered according to the individual responses.TⅡ effecacy is higher than that of other SAARDs in treatment of patients with RA.