Due to festive feasting over the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of people who visited hospital emergency rooms reporting symptoms of acute gout has increased by 10 to 20 percent, doctors said yesterday, adding that more people in their 30s or 40s have experienced the condition in recent years.
A man in his 30s was taken to an emergency room on Friday last week with gout — a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes swelling, redness and severe joint pain — which he said hurt as much as being hit with a hammer.
The attending physician said the man had gout from his 20s, but did not control his diet or stick to a regular drug regime to control uric acid levels in his blood, so his uric acid level elevated rapidly after holiday feasting, causing the pain.
Taipei Medical University Hospital Immunology Department attending physician Chang Chi-ching (張棋禎) said joints most commonly affected by gout are the first metatarsophalangeal joints of big toes and the joints of the instep, ankle or heel, although some people might experience severe pain at other joints.
The majority of people with gout used to be in their 50s or 60s, but now more younger patients are getting treatment for the condition, he said, adding that because many people enjoy eating hot pot in winter, the number of people with gout has increased during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital nephrologist Yen Tzung-hai (顏宗海) said the age of onset for gout is gradually becoming younger, citing many cases in recent years of people in their 30s or 40s developing the condition.
Purines — an organic compound found in some foods that breaks down into uric acid — can dissolve in hot pot, so drinking the soup can trigger gout, he said.
“People with gout should avoid eating internal organs, seafood, broth and food high in purines,” Chang said, adding that they should also regularly take medication to control their blood uric acid level and get a blood test at least once every three months.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS