While eating red meat could trigger gout attacks, the fundamental cause is high urate levels, say researchers. Photo: 123RF
研究人员说，虽然吃红肉会引发痛风发作，但根本原因是尿酸盐水平高。 照片：123RF
Gout is a chronic illness caused by genetics rather than diet and lifestyle choices, a major international study led by the University of Otago has found.
奥塔哥大学领导的一项重大国际研究发现，痛风是一种由遗传引起的慢性疾病，而不是由饮食和生活方式选择引起。
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The study – published in Nature Genetics – analysed the genetic information of 2.6 million people.
这项发表在《自然遗传学》（Nature Genetics）上的研究分析了260万人的遗传信息。
It found inherited genetics was an important part of why some people got gout and most others did not.
研究发现，遗传遗传学是一些人患痛风而大多数人没有痛风的重要原因。
Senior author Professor Tony Merriman, of Otago’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, hoped the findings would remove some of the stigma around gout.
奥塔哥大学微生物学和免疫学系的资深作者 Tony Merriman 教授希望这些发现能够消除围绕痛风的一些耻辱感。
“Gout is a chronic disease with a genetic basis and is not the fault of the sufferer – the myth that gout is caused by lifestyle or diet needs to be busted,” he said.
“痛风是一种具有遗传基础的慢性疾病，不是患者的错——痛风是由生活方式或饮食引起的神话需要被打破，”他说。
“This widespread myth causes shame in people with gout, making some people more likely to suffer in silence and not go and see the doctor to get a preventive drug that lowers urate in the blood and will prevent their pain.”
“这个普遍存在的神话让痛风患者感到羞耻，使一些人更有可能默默忍受，而不是去看医生以获得降低血液中尿酸盐并防止他们痛苦的预防性药物。”
Professor Merriman said while specific dietary factors, such as eating red meat, could trigger gout attacks, the fundamental cause was high urate levels – crystals in the joints – and an immune system primed to ‘attack’ the crystals.
梅里曼教授说，虽然特定的饮食因素（例如吃红肉）可能会引发痛风发作，但根本原因是高尿酸盐水平（关节中的晶体）和准备“攻击”晶体的免疫系统。
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“Genetics plays an important role in all of these processes.”
“遗传学在所有这些过程中都起着重要作用。”
Professor Merriman hoped the findings would lead to improved treatment for gout sufferers.
Merriman 教授希望这些发现能改善痛风患者的治疗。
“We hope that, in time, better and more accessible treatments will become available.”
“我们希望随着时间的推移，会有更好、更容易获得的治疗方法出现。”
Gout was the most common form of arthritis in men and it affects three to four times more men than women.
痛风是男性最常见的关节炎形式，它对男性的影响是女性的三到四倍。
It could be effectively treated by drugs (such as allopurinol) which lowered the urate in the blood and prevented urate crystal forming in the joints, or dissolved them if they were already there.
它可以通过药物（如别嘌呤醇）进行有效治疗，这些药物可以降低血液中的尿酸盐并防止尿酸盐结晶在关节中形成，或者如果它们已经存在，则将其溶解。
来源：RNZ
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