Gout was known among the Egyptians as Podagra (foot pain) as early as 2640 BC and was described by Hippocrates in the fifth century BC as the Òunwalkable diseaseÓ, mostly affecting the rich. Hippocrates noted that gout did not affect eunuchs, was uncommon in pre-menopausal women and youth before coitarche, acute attacks subsided within 40 days, and affected more people in the spring and autumn. Hippocrates further
wrote: ÒPersons affected with the gout who are aged, have tophi in their joints, have led a hard life, and whose bowels are constipated are beyond the power of medicine to cureÓ.