Folic acid and gout

[Al O’Purinol]

This folic acid and gout question was posted by a member who has now left.

Celery seeds, black cherry, folic acid and gout

I nearly cured my gout using the above. Please answer when it is my turn.

[Al O’Purinol]

I have been looking into this for a long time and have been gout free for 9 month until I went to Mexico all inclusive and ate every day tons of meat and drank gallons of beer.

My cure mix before this,.. taken for 9 month, consisted of celery seed, folic acid, black cherry juice, bromelain, acetyl L-carnitine, cod liver oil, 3 liters of water per day, Ascorbic acid, E with Selenium etc.

I wish I could measure, monitor uric acid level at home to see what works and what does not, without that all is just guessing and that is problem with gout.

The Experts just copy each other and there is nothing new to learn. Now i have to build my immunity to gout again or is it just pseudogout?

You know, many doctors prescribe for gout without ever finding the basics, taking sample of sinovial fluid.

[KeithTaylor]

Remeber that untreated acute gout attacks often go away in a few days by themselves.

Many gout cures are often coincidence.

Obviously, if anything makes you feel better, then continue with it, but remain aware that the only true way to overcome gout longterm is to reduce uric acid levels. Keep uric acid below 6mg/dL, and gout attacks will eventually cease. You may need natural or medical help with pain until uric acid deposits have all dissolved.

[Hattie]

Normally I don’t learn much from articles in gout forums. However I have to say that this topic has taught me a lot about folic acid and gout. Thanks for a great website.

[Keith Taylor]

Though this is a very old post, I’ve decided to see if there is still any interest in folic acid as a herbal medicine for gout. The first two posters are no longer members, but I’m sure other gout sufferers are interested in folic acid for gout.

I’ve had a quick look to see if there is any recent research about the effects of folic acid on uric acid. Previously, I couldn’t find anything conclusive. That hasn’t really changed, though there could be good news for the many gout sufferers who also have high blood pressure.

I’ve seen old references that suggest that folic acid could be a xanthine oxidase inhibitor. A kind of natural allopurinol!?? However, real facts are hard to come by, and the main reference for folic acid and uric acid I found is quite certain that folic acid does not lower uric acid:

[folic acid] administered in doses up to 1000 mg orally a day did not significantly lower the serum urate concentration

At least that study found no toxicity with high doses of folic acid.

A recent investigation on high blood pressure patients reveals that folic acid combined with enalapril does reduce uric acid. Enalapril is marketed as Vasotec or Enaladex. The study, Effects of combined enalapril and folic acid therapy on the serum uric acid levels in hypertensive patients: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-controlled clinical trial, concludes:

the present results demonstrate that the administration of a daily dose of 0.8 mg Folic Acid combined with enalapril, compared to that of enalapril alone, may be beneficial in lowering the serum Uric Acid concentrations in patients with baseline elevated Uric Acid concentration or hyperuricemia

I’m left wondering if folic acid for gout is best used in conjunction with other compounds. Combinations are often used in medicine to get more effects than can be achieved by individual compounds. Another point revealed in this report also has me wondering about how research has been conducted in the past. This study divides groups between different uric acid levels. The medicines were much more effective at lowering uric acid where it was higher at the beginning of the trial. In fact, for the group with the lowest starting uric acid, there levels rose very slightly after taking the medicine.

So, I’m pondering these folic acid issues, and also wondering if food folates are more effective than folic acid supplements. Whilst I ponder, I’d love to read your thoughts on folic acid and gout.

[Author]

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