sad, but true news

Results of a new survey show that two-thirds (65 percent) of gout patients ranked their typical gout flares -- defined as a sudden, intense pain -- as either close to, or the worst pain possible and say that the flares last an average of eight days. Seventy-two percent reported having experienced at least one flare within the last 12 months. The online survey of 321 gout patients was conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVNT), whose drug Puricase(R) (PEG-uricase), is currently in Phase 3 development in symptomatic gout patients who have failed previous therapies. The survey results were released today just prior to the 2006 American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, D.C. The majority of surveyed gout patients reported that a gout flare has a major or extreme impact on walking (75 percent), putting on shoes (71 percent), and participating in recreational sports and activities (70 percent). About one in five (21 percent) employed gout patients say that they have missed work in the last year due to a gout flare, with 23 percent of those respondents saying they missed seven work days or more.(1) While more than half (57 percent) of gout sufferers see a doctor for treatment, only 13 percent reported seeing a rheumatologist, the type of physician who specializes in rheumatic disorders such as gout, whereas 80 percent see a primary care physician. "These survey findings confirm that gout is an excruciating and debilitating form of arthritis that can negatively affect daily activities, lifestyle and work productivity," said N. Lawrence Edwards, MD, Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Florida College of Medicine, and Chairman and CEO of the newly launched Gout & Uric Acid Education Society, a non-profit, patient advocacy organization created to educate patients and healthcare providers about gout and the related consequences of hyperuricemia (http://www.gouteducation.org). "The prevalence of gout has steadily increased in recent decades due to a variety of dietary and lifestyle changes, obesity, greater use of medications that can cause high uric acid levels, and the aging population. Fortunately for patients, the first new prescription treatments for gout in 40 years are being developed."