JointHealth
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JointHealth™ express   August 29, 2011

Good news for Canadians living with gout

Febuxostat (Uloric®), a medication used to treat hyperuricemia (an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood) which is a condition that sometimes leads to gout, was added to the Alberta and Saskatchewan formularies last month. It is the first new treatment option in more than 40 years for the condition.

Hyperuricemia causes the joint swelling and inflammation associated with gout. Febuxostat is an oral medication that has been proved through randomized controlled trials to lower uric acid levels.

Listing details can be found at the following links:
  • Alberta - click here (Section 3, page 5, or p. 16 of the pdf)
  • Saskatchewan - click here (page 240 of Appendix A, or p. 21 of the pdf)
To learn more about gout, please read our “Spotlight on gout”. In addition, you can click on this link to read an interesting article about the rise in occurrences of gout in the U.S. This type of arthritis is also on the rise in Canada. We originally shared the article via Twitter from @ACEjointhealth. If you would like to receive more news as it happens, please follow us. You can also follow the Arthritis is cured! (if you want it) National Arthritis Awareness Program Twitter feed at @arthritiscured. In French, the Program is called Guérir l’arthrite ! (la solution vous revient) and can be followed through Twitter here: @guerirlarthrite.