Binge-eating and lack of exercise during lockdown has triggered huge increase in gout

It was once known as the ‘disease of kings’, but gout hospitalizations have risen due to binge eating and less exercise during lockdown, figures suggest.

The number of cases has increased by 20% in three years, with 234,000 patients hospitalized with gout in 2021/22. National Health Service Digital statistics show.

There has also been a significant increase in obesity during the same period.

Experts said many spent more time sitting down during the Covid lockdowns and could have eaten more snacks and junk food while working from home.

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes sudden and severe joint pain.

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Forget Falstaff, Henry VIII and the wealthy Victorians who made gout infamous.

‘Elizabethans today are eating and drinking everything under the table.’

Gout is one of the oldest known diseases of mankind and dates back to the Egyptians.

Symptoms include sudden and severe joint pain, usually in the big toe, but can also be found in other joints in the feet, hands, wrists, elbows, or knees.

Some people may also experience hot, swollen, red skin over the affected joint.

It is caused by having too much uric acid in the body, which can lead to sodium urate crystal deposits forming in and around the joints, causing pain and discomfort.

It can cause excruciating pain, but can usually be treated with medications such as ibuprofen or steroids if the pain and swelling don’t improve.

But Fry warned that patients were not getting enough help from the NHS.

“People with gout are miles away from getting the treatment they need and their appalling care is little better than it was in the days of the Middle Ages,” he said.

The NHS recommends reaching a healthy weight, exercising regularly, stopping smoking and following a healthy diet to prevent gout from coming back.