Vitamin C May Lower Risk of Gout

VANCOUVER, Canada—A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found higher intake of vitamin C was independently associated with a lower risk of gout and supplemental vitamin C may be beneficial in the prevention of gout, an inflammatory joint disease (2009;169(5):502-507).

Researchers prospectively examined, from1986 through 2006, the relation between vitamin C intake and risk of incident gout in 46,994 male participants with no history of gout at baseline. During the 20 years of follow-up, there were 1,317 confirmed incident cases of gout. Compared with men with vitamin C intake less than 250 mg/d, the multivariate relative risk (RR) of gout was 0.83 for total vitamin C intake of 500 to 999 mg/d, 0.66 for 1,000 to 1,499 mg/d, and 0.55 for 1,500 mg/d or greater. The multivariate RR per 500-mg increase in total daily vitamin C intake was 0.83. Compared with men who did not use supplemental vitamin C, the multivariate RR of gout was 0.66 for supplemental vitamin C intake of 1,000 to 1,499 mg/d and 0.55.