Colchicine Provides Relief from Gout

Gout is a disease characterized by swelling, redness and pain in the joints.   It’s caused by abnormally high levels of uric acid in the blood.  The presence of uric acid crystals in the fluid of the joints is how gout is diagnosed.  Gout flare-ups are sudden and can be debilitating.

Colchicine is an anti-gout agent, a beta tubulin interactor that can be taken by mouth, with or without food, to prevent the symptoms and flare-ups of gout.  Colchicine is a natural substance extracted from a European plant called the autumn crocus, or meadow saffron.  It is marketed in the U.S. as a prescription drug.  In 2009 it was approved by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, for use in relieving gout.  It is also used in the treatment of Mediterranean fever, Behcet’s Disease and pericarditis.  It is being researched as a new anti-cancer treatment.   

Colchicine is a prescription drug.  It does not cure gout, but it can relieve gout’s pain and symptoms.  Patients who take colchicine report that it acts very quickly and that it relieves them of gout flare-ups.  It’s important to follow your dosage schedule to maintain the medication’s effectiveness.  Colchicine can also be administered intravenously.

Colchicine extract was recognized as a treatment for gout in the first century.  Colchicine itself was isolated by two French scientists in the 1800’s.  Later it was identified as a pain-reliever and anti-inflammatory for the treatment of gout.  It was brought to the United States of America by Benjamin Franklin, himself a gout sufferer.

When uric acid crystals form in the joints it causes pain, swelling and redness.  Although colchicine is not a pain reliever, it relieves the pain of gout.  Scientists are not sure how it works, but it appears to reduce the uric acid crystals and the inflammation that cause the pain of gout.