Medieval 'bloodletting' could ease gout pain - Daily Mail

A review of studies involving nearly 1,000 people suggests the ancient therapy, largely abandoned in modern medical practice, could in fact be nearly 40 per cent more effective at treating the condition than the painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs currently used.

But some researchers now believe bloodletting may ease symptoms, by lowering inflammation and levels of uric acid, a known cause of gout.

High blood levels of uric acid lead urate crystals to form in the joints, causing intense pain and swelling.

By the late 1800s new technologies had sidelined bloodletting in Western medicine.

But now new research by scientists from Sichuan Integrative Medicine Hospital, China, found bloodletting was 37 per cent more effective in treating gout than medicines such as colchicine and NSAIDs — and patients’ pain was also reduced by 13 per cent.

Bloodletting in these trials was also reported to cause 36 per cent fewer side-effects.

Researchers found it lowered uric acid levels by the same amount as standard medicine, but was more effective at cutting blood levels of an inflammatory compound, C-reactive protein (CRP) — found by previous research to stick to uric acid crystals, triggering the inflammation seen in gout.

‘Bloodletting is both effective and safe in treating gout and can especially ease acute severe pain and reduce CRP inflammatory levels in patients, with a lower risk of evoking adverse reactions,’ the researchers say.

‘Bloodletting was better than Western medicine in ameliorating symptoms of gout.’.

Controlling uric acid levels effectively is key, he says, adding that current therapies for treating acute gout are ‘highly effective’ in most patients ‘if used appropriately’.