See? I told ya so! Cheney has gout

[No Exit]

Bout with gout must be sore point for Cheney

BILL HALL
Published: January 14th, 2006 02:30 AM





Members of Vice President Dick Cheney’s palace guard were trying to protect him the other day from public knowledge of an ailment they obviously consider an embarrassment. But I disagree even though I sometimes suffer from the same ailment. And I don’t mean I experience a strange urge to torture people.
In my case and in that of the vice president, the torture is foot pain. And we are the victims.

Cheney was trying, unrealistically, to keep that from the public. But he couldn’t keep it from me because I had the personal experience to recognize even Cheney’s vague description of the affliction. And of course, it’s just a matter of time before news agencies talk to doctors who report what’s really going on. So the vice president’s staff finally acknowledged the ailment – as foolish press agents always must in this the land of the free and home of the nosy.

(snip)

This latest botched PR job began when Cheney was rushed to the heart plumbers with shortness of breath, apparently caused by fluid retention in his lungs. The vice president’s people said the fluid retention was a side effect of an anti-inflammatory drug that Cheney had been taking to treat a “pre-existing condition” in his foot.

(snip)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/columnists/story/5457614p-4925466c.html

[lonestarnot]

1. heh heh heh hope he rots!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Just like Henry VIII - another sick, fat, bastard.

and just as murderous.

[two gun sid]

3. Cheney is afflicted with gout?

Do you have a link to a video? Please.

[Botany]

4. Why that is awful news

:rofl:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. You were absolutely right! I remember you saying this.

:toast:

But I bet ya the gout is talking to reporters saying it has 'cheney'

[No Exit]

7. LOL!!

Yes, no self-respecting disease wants anything to do with Cheney's feet, I imagine.

I have heard of a lady who has gout who (I am told) has never been a heavy drinker. But the people I actually have KNOWN who had gout have been heavy drinkers.

Cheney got at least 3 Driving Under the Influence convictions in the past, didn't he?

Only other possibility I can think of: he's been eating WAY too many sardines. Sardines are very much forbidden for gout sufferers.

[Hissyspit]

26. I never doubted you!

:7

Sardines hypothesis seems the LESS likely, doesn't it?

[No Exit]

35. Oh, well, let's be FAIR, now.... I heard you can really get a good buzz

from sardines....

Oh, wait... not sardines... Cutty Sark. Oops!

[Lisa]

30. and rhubarb ...

That's something else people with gout are supposed to avoid. (We used to take some over to our neighbor until she was diagnosed, and her doctor put it on her "bad foods" list -- too much oxalic acid.)

Wonder if Dick's been creeping into the WH kitchen and sneaking rhubarb pie?

[No Exit]

34. ROFL!! When the Secret Bunker is opened up, they'll find... RHUBARB!

Yeeeaaaaahhhh!!! It'll be like a horror movie!

[Lisa]

57. kind of like "Dracula" crossed with "Little Shop of Horrors"! (n/t)

[peekaloo]

6. hahahahahaha....all those lavish fund raising dinners came back to

torture him.

Eat like a King, suffer like a peasant.

[Warpy]

8. My mother had gout and suffered horribly from it

even when she'd lost weight and become a skinny little birdie lady. She just loved fruit and cheese, and the cheese would set it off.

I can't think of anyone I'd wish it on, but if it has to happen to someone, Cheney's a great candidate.

[No Exit]

36. Sheesh. No sardines, no rhubarb, no cheese...

Lynne?? Is your household staff listening?? Better check your housekeeping supervisor... someone's been feeding Dick the wrong foods.

Oh--and, Lynne, tell 'em to lock up the liquor cabinet!

[boobooday]

9. The affliction of fat cats

I love the details about the folklore view of gout.

He's rotting from the bottom up, while he destroys our country from the top down.

[Tsiyu]

10. My first thought when i heard about the foot

Eat some more red steaks, Cheney! Slug down some more bourbon, you Dick!

As I said before - he neglects his body the same way he neglects the country : without any regard for the painful consequences.

Consequences are a bitch!

[peacetalksforall]

11. I am surprised about the criricisms of other people who get or have

had gout? Alchohol? That assumes that a non-drinker will never get gout? I think a quick look at the causes of gout should be checked on the internet for ease of research. Too much of certain foods can bring it on. Isn't it one thing to poke at Cheney and another to demean others with gout?

[tishaLA]

13. Yeah. I have "secondary" gout

And it's because of my congestive heart failure medications--my diuretics--not because I eat organ meat or drink a lot. But the many Dr. Frists on the thread prefer to sully everyone with gout...

[tyedyeto]

15. People with gout know that they need to have a low purine diet

to keep the uric acid from building up in their body.

Since, according to reports, this is a recurring health problem for the VP, he should know what foods and fluids he can and cannot partake.

[tishaLA]

20. not necessarily true

if his gout happens because of his heart failure medications (his diuretics), nothing other than the medications causes it (not purines) and nothing short of stopping his diuretics can stop it.

[DanCa]

66. my gout is cause by excessive uric acid build up

brought on by parkinson's drugs. It's not fun trust me.

[No Exit]

37. Well, here's something we can probably agree on:

Every account I've ever heard of how gout feels emphasized that it is PAINFUL.

So at least we know that in addition to the innocent people suffering from it, we have one very guilty person suffering, too: Cheney.

[donsu]

12. gout also plagues heavy drinkers

nt

[cliss]

14. OK - (pulls out pencil) adding that one to the list -

Let's see - Cheney has

1)had 4 major heart attacks
2) has had quadruple bypass surgery
3) has a hole in his aorta which the doctors were not able to fix
4) had a pacemaker put in a few years ago
5) had surgery on the back of his knee; had an embolism
6) recently had shortness of breath; had to go in
7) makes mystery trips to the hospital all the time
8) it looks like he has a colostomy bag from 1 photo
9) is really overweight; Lynne feeds him a lot of greasy food like cheeseburgers
10) amazingly, he is only 10 years older than John Edwards. He looks 110 years older.
11) Has delusions of winning in Iraq & other places; signer on PNAC
11) (adds gout)

Shall we start taking bets?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. "The Disease of Kings"...

Perhaps the oldest known type of arthritis, gout or gouty arthritis has been described since Hippocrates in the 5th century B.C. At one time, the term “gout” was used to describe all types of arthritis. Known as the “Disease of Kings” due to its association with rich foods and alcohol consumption, COLORful depictions of gout can be found in art and literature often with commentary on the moral character of the gout sufferer.

http://www.hopkins-arthritis.som.jhmi.edu/other/gout.html

[No Exit]

42. How totally perfect for Dick. Wonder if Chimpy ever gets it?

He is, after all, a king.

[Algorem]

17. Hope he'll gout of office real soon.

Lotsa pain to you,dicky.

[Jade Fox]

22. Hardeeharhar!

:spank:

[Algorem]

18. This could be a job for Dick Morris.

Get Dick on the Dickphone,those 2 Dicks deserve each other.

[UTUSN]

19. With his FIRST CLASS HEALTH CARE it seems odd that

they (his CRACK doctors) wouldn't head it off. Routine blood tests have markers for increasing levels of the uric acid, and there is/are meds that are preventative of attacks. Once the attack happens, the meds are for pain not for causes, and it lasts 4 to 7 days. Till the next time. People with heart conditions like his also have this. It is truly medieval to consider this "embarrassing" but then, Dick is medievally embarrassing on his own, apart from his ailments.

[EST]

21. There are two major types of gout, only one of which

is necessarily associated with elevated purine level inflammation. A third, broad category of 'gout' is associated with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Those who've had the misfortune of suffering gout will place it among the most potent and least controllable of agonies. Psoriatic arthritis is the king of the hill, so this kind of pain level might explain his constant "chewing on a dead puppy' grimace, masquerading as a smile.

Wishing that kind or torture on anyone would be a hasty, ill-considered gesture, considering, if this is his karma load from the previous go-round, what an awful shit he must have been.

[No Exit]

38. Sorry, but I do wish that kind of torture on him

Because he's a murderer. What's the count up to now? 2200? And not even counting the Iraqis... whom they won't let us get a count of.

[EST]

52. I must admit I, too, have a lot of trouble

taking the high road with this vicious serial/mass murderer.

[SpiralHawk]

23. Cheney should try the Dick Morris toe-suck therapy

recommended by assholes for the relief of assholes (and gouty feet).

[warrior1]

24. Ouch

[eleny]

25. I bet even Frist could diagnose this from a video

[No Exit]

39. Well, in addition to being able to diagnose from mere videos,

we know that the Good Doctor is psychic. His psychic sense told him to dump that HCA stock directly b/f the price fell, you know.

[NMDemDist2]

27. I figured it was gout all along n/t

[carolinalady]

28. I knew it was gout-my mother has it. She was a heavy drinker

for years.

[No Exit]

40. That also fits what we know about Cheney.

Remember that we learned he had not ONE, but (IIRC) at least THREE Driving Under the Influence convictions.

You know, looking at what he's done lately, I kind of wish he'd just stuck to getting shitfaced all the time.

[carolinalady]

44. He probably is-whenever my Mom falls off the wagon-her Gout

flairs right up. It doesn't take very much either.

[No Exit]

46. Sadly, my relative never was on the wagon.

So he has gout attacks from time to time. Used to take colchicine, takes some other stuff now.

I wonder: does gout flare up in a person who was FORMERLY a heavy drinker, but who at present abstains completely? The reason I want to know is, I want to know if Cheney's on the wagon, or if he never went on the wagon. I have already satisfied myself that he had a drinking problem in the past: one Driving Under the Influence, maybe, but when someone repeatedly gets them, IMO that person has a drinking problem. So we know he had a drinking problem in the 60's.

I have also been told that drinking can aggravate heart problems. I'm thinking maybe we should all send some Courvoisier to Dick... (and what more fitting brand for Bush/Cheney imperialists, than "the brandy of Napoleon"?)

[carolinalady]

51. Once you get it, it can be food or drink that flares it up. Moderate

drinking of Red Wine can actually help heart disease, but I don't guess he is a moderate red wine drinker! I don't think you will be able to tell whether he is drinking again from the Gout but based on my own experience with my Mom, it seems likely.

[DemonFighterLives]

29. Gout is a metabolic disease

Some people's bodies don't remove uric acid as well as others. It can be hereditary. My father had it since his 20's or 30's. It is mostly in men but both of his sisters have it. At about 35, mine became evident with a purple bump on the big toe. I tried to ignore it, but it became nearly impossible to walk on it. At first the doctor didn't want to start me on a daily pill of Allopurinol. Change in diet was reoommended.

One time it translocated to both knees and I went to the VA and had a large syringe full removed for examination. They wanted to know what else it could be. Mostly gout and a touch of arthritis.

The diet is very prohibitive with things such as gravy, stews too large of pieces of beef over 4 0Z. My dad used to get along fine, but could expect a reaction if he ate any peas.

I know my diet isn't perfect, but I grew up on a dairy farm, so removing Ice cream from my diet would not work. I told the doctor straight out that I can't abide by the diet and therefore I contol it with Allo.
Thank God for that- I only need to feel a twinge and can take an anti- inflamatory and usually life goes on.

[Pachamama]

31. Removing Ice Cream from my diet?

Now you are scaring me! :scared:

What exactly is "gout"? Aside from what causes it, what are the symptoms?

[Tesha]

58. Gout is...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout

Gout (also called gouty arthritis, (Greek name: podagra, from pod - foot and
agra - trap) is a form of arthritis caused by the accumulation of uric acid
crystals in joints. It is an intensely painful disease, which in most cases
affects only one joint (monoarthritis), most commonly the big toe.

<more>

Tesha

[chefgirl]

32. Yeah, ouch!

My Dad suffered from gout for years. Started in the big toe of one foot, then the other, then moved to his hands, and finally in the years just before he died, it began to affect his spine.

It really was a horrible thing to watch someone go through. He was a tough little SOB, but when his gout would 'act up', as he called it, look out! I never saw anything get to him the way that did.

I agree with the poster upthread who mentioned that that perpetual grimace of his might be related to gout. I saw a similar expression on my Dad's face many times. Of course, no one does it quite like DICK.

I would like to say I feel sorry for him, but...

-chef-

[Skittles]

33. I hope it f***ing hurts

yes indeed

[No Exit]

41. My relative who has it isn't a complainer, but I can just tell that it

hurts really, really, really bad.

And I have repeatedly heard that when it's in one's foot, the person can't even stand for a soft blanket to brush against the foot.

It truly is a fitting disease for a monster like Cheney to get.

[No Exit]

43. So was some of Cheney's knee trouble ALSO gout?

Some posters here have said it can afflict the knees.

Remember when he had a heart attack in his knee?

Dammit, this man is a walking disease list. Why the HELL can't he get OUT of public office???

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

60. No, his knee problems were totally different, blockage of the arteries

there.

[Dawgs]

45. I get gout from shellfish (very common)!!!

It is the MOST painful mother f'in thing you can get. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[No Exit]

47. You're a better person than I am. Because I DO wish it on Cheney!

I hope he gets it again and again!:)

Sheesh, can't eat rhubarb, sardines, cheese, shellfish... what fun is it being a rich guy if you can't have fancy foods?

Heh heh. And I hope they start offshore drilling right next to his new place on Chesapeake Bay, too. (But of course that will never happen.)

[bleedingheart]

48. my mom suffers from it and it is awful...

[Touchdown]

53. I know one that's worse.

Although the pain of my inflamed thumb was intense, and any slight touch sent me to the Moon, nothing NOTHING compares to a 4mm kidney stone in the ureter. Gout you can leave alone, raise above your head, or not manipulate and it won't hurt. Nothing but Percocet can help with the uncontrollable pain of a kidney stone on the move, with a swollen kidney 3-4 times normal size moving back muscles out of the way, making them hurt too, and even then, Percocet is only partly effective.

[Dawgs]

59. I'm not sure if you've ever had gout, but I doubt it...

My gout hurts all of the time. You don't walk on your thumbs, you walk on your feet.

[Touchdown]

62. Try buttoning your pants with one thumb.

No, it doesn't hurt all the time. In fact, I've not had a spell of gout for 4 years, but I do remember the pain. I may be lucky that it was in the thumb and not the big toe, but I'm amazed how much I use my thumb when I can't use it.

I doubt you ever had a kidney stone, or you wouldn't be saying that.

[Touchdown]

49. My Doc thought I had gout once.

on my left thumb. It was tough trying to button my pants with only one thumb, you try it! It usually hits the thumbs or the big toes. The test came back negative for gout. I'm only an occasional drinker, but I do eat spicy foods. SHe said it was...get this..."Pseudo Gout". :eyes: I've yet to find any documentation for "pseudo gout". She gave me some pills and it went away. That was 4 years ago, and it never came back.

[EST]

55. Pseudo-gout is, obviously, externally similar to gout-

same destruction of tissues, same blinding, "white noise" pain.
The primary difference is that a feature of regular gout is a build-up of uric acid crystals in the affected area, like a million tiny daggers,stabbing away. Pseudo-gout comes from calcium (usually carbonate) crystals, millions of them, doing the dagger dance.

Either way, women who've had this painful disease claim the pain level exceeds that of childbirth, by a considerable margin.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

63. Pseudogout here...

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/78/95621.htm

Pseudogout is a form of arthritis that causes pain, stiffness, tenderness, redness, warmth and swelling in some joints. It usually affects one joint at a time, but sometimes may affect several joints at once.

Pseudogout commonly affects the knee or wrist. Less often, it can involve the hips, shoulders, elbows, knuckles, toes or ankles.

What Causes Pseudogout?

Pseudogout results from the abnormal formation of calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystals in the cartilage (cushioning material between the bones), which is later followed by the release of crystals into the joint fluid. When CPP crystals are released into the joint, they can cause a sudden attack of arthritis, similar to gout.

The cause of abnormal deposits of CPP crystals in cartilage is unknown. They may form due to abnormal cells in the cartilage, or they may be produced as the result of another disease that damages cartilage. CPP crystals may be released from cartilage during a sudden illness, joint injury or surgery. The abnormal formation of CPP crystals also may be a hereditary trait.

Basically it appears to be the same type of problem as gout, crystals deposited in the tissues and joints, just a different chemical (uric acid in gout, calcium pyrophosphate in pseudogout).

At least in the case of gout, my understanding is that once the process has begun, your immune response to the crystals, causing inflammation, is a big part of the disease, and the pain, that's why potent anti-inflammatory meds are the treatment for the actual "flareups".

[DS1]

65. Should've sent her a "Pseudo Check"

;-)

[Touchdown]

69. You need to come to all my Dr. appointments

I can't think of stuff like that until it's too late! :rofl:

[rucky]

50. Blue-Blood Disease

probably hemophiliac, too.

[malaise]

54. Don't know if I buy this

his symptoms sound more like a man with a congenital heart problem.
I don't give a damn but it looks like when he and junior were shouting 'bring it on' they were talking to a variety of diseases.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

67. Cheney has all kinds of problems going on.

He has the common, acquired type of heart disease, due to atherosclerosis. Like many people, his atherosclerosis is a system wide problem, causing blockages of arteries not just the heart but throughout his body, as evidenced by the blockages of the arteries in his knee (popliteal). He's probably at high risk for blockages of the arteries in his neck and head also which could cause stroke.

As a result of the multiple heart attacks he's had due to his coronary artery blockages, he has impaired heart function due to the heart muscle killed off in the heart attacks. As a consequence he's at high risk for lethal arrhythmias, and that's why he has an automatic implanted cardiac defibrillator (AICD).

The impaired pumping function of the heart also typically leads to symptoms of congestive heart failure, which usually include things like shortness of breath while lying down or at night, and retention of fluid which is often seen as swelling in the legs and feet. Most likely this is the source of the most recent hospital admission problem even though they try to divert attention to the problems in his feet (gout), which is not caused by a life threatening disease, and the problems with fluid retention, which may well be caused by a life threatening problem (congestive heart failure).

It would be unusual to require hospital admission for gout related problems even though they are quite painful. It would also be unusual to be admitted just for tweaking meds related to fluid retention unless it was due to something serious like congestive heart failure.

The fact that the guy has an AICD alone is essentially prima facie evidence that he's got congestive heart failure (impaired pumping function of the heart). They only put those in if you either have a history of having lethal arrhythmias or cardiac arrest, or if the pump function is impaired enough that they consider you to be at high risk for such an event. We know he's got an AICD. I don't know why they try to be so cute dancing around the issue of congestive heart failure. They're just trying to avoid painting the obvious picture that Cheney is falling apart, and dying.

Cheney's first heart attack was at age 37, suggesting that there is likely a strong hereditary component to his atherosclerosis since it's otherwise a bit unusual to have such severe artery blockages so young regardless of lifestyle.

Gout is just another problem that he has, he fits the profile of the expense account dinner fat cat who is the classic gout patient.

One tries to apply the principle of Occam's Razor, to fit all of a patient's symptoms and problems into one disease process or cause if possible, but with old sick people like Cheney, they can have both ticks and fleas.

I always thought the issue of Cheney declining to run for president was laughable anyway, a guy with his medical and cardiac history would be highly unlikely to even survive two shrub terms, and I still think it's low odds that he'll make it through this term, impeachment or not.

[malaise]

70. Thanks for this

my point exactly Gout is the least of his probelms.

[BreweryYardRat]

56. Suffer, bitch, suffer!!!

Not shedding any tears for that bastard.

[pinniped]

61. I will send a get well soon card.

FU ch*.

[DanCa]

64. I just got over a bout of gout

couldn't wear shoes for two weeks. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

[benburch]

68. I hope it is really, really, really painful.

I hope it makes his every waking hour a misery.