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Comment by xref | Hacker News Reader

I watch/read a lot of history and I am always curious, if you traveled back in time how would you treat gout? Without medications to manage uric acid what would you do for Ben Franklin, DaVinci, Michelangelo or Charlemagne? Have them lose weight? Stay away from foods X, Y, and Z but eat more of A/B/C? Does exercise help/hurt? Are there any herbs etc that we know today would lower uric acid which you could find with your vast Future Knowledge?

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Alcohol free Keto for two weeks twice a year. Lent and late summer.

Both Franklin and Da Vinci were well-known and documented tea-totalling vegetarians. The kind you avoid inviting to parties because they won't stop proselytizing it.

Turns out genetic metabolic problems have always been around and modern simple "life hacks" like a fad diet product or an exercise product aren't always the cure.

Or, they were able to manage this horrible condition, and lead extremely successful and productive lives, despite the lack of modern medicine, because of their personal experimentation and resulting lifestyle changes.

Or, yeah, maybe they were just dumb lifehacking sheep.

Colchicine (and its more natural forms) has been used for centuries.

And if you want your daily rage, check out the history of pricing in the US:

https://www.hcplive.com/view/why-is-colchicine-so-expensive-...

Some people believe that cherry juice can negate the effects but by far Prednisone works at relieving the pain, almost to the point of seeming like a magic pill.

Unfortunately it is a short lasting treatment as after a few times it quickly becomes less effective and it has side effects such as mood swings.

But take a 50mg pill when you can't walk and an hour later you're dancing.

So I guess if I was a time traveler I would probably try something like making an alcohol based serum from pigs adrenal glands?

I would be very, very careful with Prednisone; it does not have a friendly risk profile.

DaVinci would hardly get gout as he was basically a vegetarian.

The reason the OP mentioned those people (including Da Vinci) is because they are all known gout sufferers.

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