DEAR DR. GOTT:
I’m writing to thank you for your suggestion to use cherries or cherry extract to relieve gout and also to tell you about cherries and kidney stones.

My husband had seven kidney stones caused by gout crystals. He was given allopurinol to help control them but it only caused him severe pain across the bottom of his chest and top of his stomach. I was afraid his pancreas was being harmed. (We have a friend who lost his gallbladder, most likely because of his use of allopurinol.)

After seeing your article, I put my husband on two cherry extract pills a day. I figured if it helped gout, it would help kidney stones caused by gout crystals. I guess I was right because my husband has not had another kidney stone and it’s been five years!

DEAR READER:
It does appear that you were correct in suggesting your husband use cherry extract pills to treat his kidney stones. [Read more...]