Hospitals sees surge in patients with Victorian disease as NHS warns of signs to look out for

The NHS also recommends discussing vitamin C supplements with your GP.

An attack of gout usually lasts between five and seven days, but it can recur – especially if it’s not treated at the time. So keep an eye out for symptoms!

Dr Alastair Dickson, a GP and trustee of the UK Gout Society, said many in the medical profession still believe it’s a condition caused by overconsumption, but warned there is still a lack of awareness of the illness.

He told the Mail: “There’s a lack of awareness that it is inherently a genetic disease.”

A report in the journal Lancet Regional Health – Europe in May discovered that only a minority of UK patients are given preventative medication within 12 months of diagnosis.

One of the report’s authors, Dr Mark Russell, NIHR research fellow at King’s College London, told Good Health: “Without preventative treatment, flare-ups tend to become more frequent over time and can develop into a chronic arthritis that never fully settles.

Things to do if get gout, according to the NHS:

• take any medicine you’ve been prescribed as soon as possible – it should start to work within 2 days

• rest and raise the limb

• keep the joint cool – apply an ice pack, or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel, for up to 20 minutes at a time

• drink lots of water (unless a GP tells you not to)

• try to keep bedclothes off the affected joint at night

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