Health news blog

There are drugs available which reduce the production of uric acid and others which help the kidney to excrete it. This 24-hour urine test will help the doctor decide which is the most appropriate.

These drugs include allopurinol (to reduce production) and probenecid and sulfinpyrozone (to improve excretion).

Colchicine is still used both to treat acute attacks and for prevention. It can be used with the other newer drugs.

In these days of screening medical tests, we find a number of men with high levels of uric acid who have not yet had an attack of gout.

Some doctors advocate treating them to prevent its onset, but most are reluctant to treat biochemical levels alone, waiting until gout shows itself with an acute arthritis rather than embarking on lifetime treatment.

Sufferers should take heart that proper treatment is available, as gout can be potentially serious as well as painful.

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Of course, following hysterectomy, there is no risk of cancer of the womb, because there is no womb. The possibility that oestrogen may cause cancer of the breast is not supported by the evidence and the risk of clots is so small as not to count when compared to the advantages.

Many women experience depression following removal of the womb, others lose all interest in sex. These side-effects can be prevented if proper care in explaining to women what the operation entails is given before the operation.

This must be given in language the woman can understand. It may need to be repeated, especially if the woman is worried, as she may not take it all in the first time.

Then following the operation repeated counselling may be necessary.

The number of hysterectomies is increasing. This is not because doctors are increasing their incomes, but because of the changing expectations of women.

In the past many tolerated discomfort from heavy periods or pain from many of the pelvic disorders. Now a new generation is not prepared to tolerate these symptoms and demands relief, and, often, operation is the only effective treatment.

Women, being better educated and more insistent on their rights, properly demand operation rather than tolerate severe discomfort.

An added bonus for many women is removal of the risk of pregnancy.

Far from a hysterectomy being a defeminising operation, it can, and should be, a liberating factor in her life, taking away the tyranny of pain, discomfort and ill-health.

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