For the longest time, gout was called the “disease of kings” or “the rich man’s disease”. Some even referred to it as “lord of disease and disease of lords”. Back then, it was only royalty and the wealthy who experienced gout because they had the best access to trigger foods such as red meat and alcohol.
Au cours des périodes antérieures, les Grecs appelaient l'orteil atteint de goutte Podagra, enfant de Dionysos (dieu du vin) et d'Aphrodite (déesse de l'amour). Les Romains utilisaient cette symbolique pour dire que la goutte était causée par une consommation excessive de nourriture, de vin et de sexe !
Une autre croyance pour la goutte était qu'elle était une guérison car elle limitait la douleur à une seule partie du corps au lieu de plusieurs zones. C'était en Europe du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, lorsque l'on croyait qu'une personne ne pouvait avoir qu'une seule maladie à la fois. Ils ne savaient pas que la goutte est associée à un certain nombre de comorbidités !
So gout doesn’t exactly have the most demeaning history like say leprosy, but nevertheless, it still carried an unhealthy stigma. The idea is that if you have gout, it was your own doing that caused it. If only you changed your diet and lifestyle, you wouldn’t be having that pain in the first place.
As the number of research on gout grows, we’re learning that the disease can actually be inherited from family. So no matter how diligent you are with your diet, if you eat that one thing, it may set off an unexpected gout flare.
Most people don’t even realize they have gout until they get a diagnosis from their doctor. This is usually done by measuring your serum uric levels. You do a uric acid test where they analyze your blood and if it’s above the normal range (7 mg/dL and above), you may have gout.
L'histoire de la stigmatisation autour de la maladie.
The earliest disease that had stigma surrounding it was leprosy. It was believed to be a sexually transmitted disease and if a person had signs of it, they were shunned or cast out of society. In Jewish culture, you couldn’t be a priest if you had a flat nose. It was seen as a sign of leprosy which indicated sexual contamination. And religious figures couldn’t be associated with that.
Later on, leprosy was replaced by syphilis. It started as a deadly disease that took over someone’s life in a span of months but over time, it became a chronic illness that one lived with for the rest of their life. Physical signs of the disease were unmistakable and society viewed those who had it as unclean. This lasted for five centuries before a cure was found for it in the 1940s.
It wasn’t long before another disease would replace syphilis in terms of getting stigmatized. That disease is called AIDS and the anxiety over it was for mainly three reasons: the method of transmission (sex), its effect (incurable, death), and the place of origin.
AIDS back then would be labelled as the “African disease”, or “Haitian disease”. Another disease having a similar stigma was cholera and it was thought to have come from Asia or India. Westerners believed that these diseases came from “primitive” parts of the world and was attacking the more developed civilizations.
We certainly don’t have the same notions for such diseases today although they have been replaced by a newer one called cancer. Some cancers are already curable but one cannot deny the sinking feeling after finding out they got the big C.
Quel effet la stigmatisation a-t-elle sur les maladies?
Les opinions sur les personnes atteintes de la goutte ont certainement un effet. Une enquête très récente menée par l'Alliance pour la sensibilisation à la goutte a révélé des insights très intéressants:
? 52% of people with gout feel embarrassed of their condition so they don’t talk about it.
? 40% of people look down on people with gout.
? 93% say they don’t know that gout is actually a form of arthritis.
? 46% of gout patients believe that diet alone causes gout.
? One in four patients think they can treat the disease with natural remedies (apple cider vinegar, cherry, etc.)
? 73% find it hard to get proper treatment. This may be because they’re not aware of the symptoms and the stigma surrounding it prevents them from taking action.
? One in four patients think gout can be cured.
Another study conducted on 11 men chronic gout had them saying that because of the stigma around gout, they tend to trivialize the impact of the disease despite its severity. This lack of openness about the condition means there’s limited perspectives about it. The result is that it’s harder to find a more effective treatment for gout.
La stigmatisation de la goutte : Vous n'êtes pas seul
There’s 8.3 million in the U.S. right now that have the same exact disease as you so you’re definitely not alone in facing this stigma. That’s 1 in 25 adults –quite alarming but it’s also comforting to know you’re not the only one being thought of as living proof of the consequences of an opulent life. I mean, it could be worse. Remember the lepers being shunned out of society? Yeah, we’re not as bad as we used to be.
La goutte a commencé à devenir plus courante dans les années 1970 à 1990. Le coupable probable est l'obésité. C'est à peu près à la même époque que de plus en plus de personnes devenaient obèses et que la condition est connue pour être la cause de nombreuses affections telles que l'hypertension artérielle, l'hypertension, maladie cardiaque, syndrome métabolique, même la goutte.
Si elle n'est pas traitée, la goutte peut compliquer votre santé et entraîner d'autres affections telles que des tophus, une déformation des articulations, calculs rénaux, une maladie cardiovasculaire, des cataractes, et plus encore.
As a gout patient, you have a personal responsibility to learn about disease as much as you can. Avoid blaming yourself. This self-defeating attitude that benefits no one. If anything, you should be more open to talking about it. It can break people’s misconceptions about it and possibly lead to a more productive discussion about the best treatments.
Qu'en pensez-vous de la stigmatisation de la goutte? Partagez vos réflexions dans les commentaires ci-dessous !
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