Gout is often blamed on overindulgence in alcohol or unhealthy eating, but research suggests genetics plays a much bigger role in the painful arthritic condition than previously thought.

In 2024, an international team of scientists looked at genetic data collected from 2.6 million people across 13 different cohorts of DNA data. That number included 120,295 people with " prevalent gout ".

By comparing the genetic codes of people with the condition to those of people without, the team found 377 specific DNA regions where there were variations linked to gout – 149 of which hadn't been associated with the disease before.

While lifestyle and environmental factors are certainly still in play, the findings suggest genetics is a major driver of gout risk – and the researchers think there

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