Want China Times, CNA 2013-07-01
Many popular beverage stores in Taiwan serve drinks that are high in sugar. (Photo/Huang Shih-chi) |
A doctor
said Saturday a growing number of youngsters in Taiwan are being diagnosed with
gout, likely because of their high consumption of sugar-filled beverages.
Chen
Shih-yang, director of Country Hospital's gout treatment center, told a medical
conference that the age at which people are contracting gout in Taiwan has
fallen markedly over the past 30 years.
Based on
40,000 data entries on gout patients he has accumulated since 1981, Chen said
gout occurred mainly among men in their 50s and 60s in the 1980s but grew
increasingly prevalent among men in their 30s in the 1990s and among men in
their 20s in recent years.
Today, Chen
said, 20-somethings account for 20% of Taiwan's gout population, an unheard of
percentage two decades ago.
He
attributed the growing number of young people with gout to their frequent
consumption of sugary drinks, which contain high levels of purine that result
in excess uric acid in the blood — the main cause of the disease.
He warned
the public to seek medical help when gout strikes them the first time, noting
it is often accompanied by cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndromes, strokes,
high-blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol.
References:
Chen Shih-yang 陳峙仰
No comments:
Post a Comment