I have a lot of experience with Gout and have helped family with research about the topic. Hopefully I can add something to what has been already posted.
First, "Gout occurs when high levels of uric acid in your blood cause crystals to form and accumulate around a joint. Your body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines. Purines occur naturally in your body, but you also get them from eating certain foods". [
1 ]
Metabolic Syndrome
As far as the linkage to Diabetes, it is a condition called Metabolic Syndrome, a group of risk factors that usually occur together and signifies an increase in risk for stroke, type II diabetes, and coronary artery disease.
The risk factors include elevated blood pressure, (130/85 mm Hg and higher, or use of blood pressure meds), elevated fasting blood sugar, (100 mg/dL or greater, or use of hyperglycemia meds), excess belly fat, (apple shape vs. pear), or Elevated triglycerides, (Greater than 150 mg/dL), and having reduced "good" cholesterol, (less than 40 mg/dL in Men and 50 mg/dL in women). [
2a ] [
2b ]
Having one of these factors isn't enough, but having just one should be a motivator to get a check up to ensure you don't have any of the others.
For the longest time it was debated whether there was a correlation between Gout and the Metabolic Syndrome. A study published by the American College of Rheumatology showed that 60% of Americans who had Gout also had Metabolic Syndrome. This is the linkage you may have heard about. [
3 ]
Colchicine
Gout's oldest pain reliever was brought to America by none other than Benjamin Franklin. He discovered the pain reliever being used in France and brought it to the United States. Colchicine has been in use in one form or another since circa 1500 BC when it was used to help treat rheumatism and swelling. [
4 ]
It is a very serious drug with serious side effects when taken in toxic levels. The problem is that everyone's toxicity level is different. You need to follow your Doctor's prescribing orders and talk with your Pharmacist to feel safe in taking this medication properly.
I will tell you the instructions that were given for my family member; take two the first dosage, 1 pill each time thereafter, no more than four in a day. The result was pain relief to about 50% of where it was after the first dosage and by the following day of having a total of about 4, the pain was manageable.
An interesting and infuriating fact about this medicine, now brand named "Colcrys", the medicine had been generic for a long time until a pharmaceutical company convinced the FDA that it needed to have exclusive rights to make the drug. They have a three year patent preventing any other company from making the once generic compound. The result? What was once about 9 cents per tablet has skyrocketed to $4.85 per tablet. We were lucky to have gotten one of the last bottles of the generic version. [
5 ]
Diet
Lastly, I will cover diet. Since I already mentioned Metabolic Syndrome, I am sure it goes without saying that anything you can do to improve your overall health, like losing weight, exercising, eating better, etc. will have a positive impact on halting, or possibly reversing the damage any one or all of these factors can have on your long term health.
Specifically, when it comes to Gout, there has been more and more research done on what causes attacks. At first, even vegetables and legumes were in the list of foods to avoid, but they have realized the vegetables and legumes do not affect Gout in the same way the core foods to avoid do. The primary thing to avoid is Purine-rich food and drinks.
They are the foods you would suspect. Meat and Seafood. The meat includes beef, pork and lamb and processed meats like salami, hot dogs, etc. Seafood includes tuna, dark fish, other fish, scallops, shrimp and lobster. [
6 ]Something else to avoid? Alcohol. According to a study published in the Lancet, "Beer drinkers increased their risk by 50% for every daily serving, while those who drank hard liquor increased their risk by 15% for each drink". [
7 ]
Drink plenty of water, especially before and after you consume a high purine food or beverage. The water will help flush out the uric acid.
Natural Health Alternative
Something you should try which worked wonders for my family member was straight cherry juice. No sugar or additives, just pure cherry juice. After drinking about 32 oz of cherry juice, within about 12 hours the constant pain from just sitting in bed ceased allowing him to sleep. The pain was still present when walking, but it did him a world of good, and it's just cherry juice. No side effects.
Summary.
It is scary to deal with any new disease, and to come face to face with the effects of choices made over the years. But, you are not alone. Once you get past this first flare up, as long as your medication is kept at a therapeutic level by getting your Uric Acid levels checked on a regular basis, you will not suffer like this again.
Like all other diet related diseases and ailments, you have a lot of power and control over what happens in your future. Good diet. Exercise and living life to the fullest is the best prescription for anyone.
Take a deep breath, and good luck.