The medical historian Roy Porter noted how its comic quality provoked the "enormous condescension of slimline political correctness". It has laid men low since antiquity but is most closely associated with the Regency period, when the condition became a badge of honour, evidence of a life of glamour and luxury.

Gout has always hobbled those with a taste for the high life, which has been the secret of its fascination. That reputation has been punctured this week with the disclosure that a key cause of gout is too many sugary fizzy drinks. Can it get more banal? Not an excess of port, alas, but of pop.

A study published in the British Medical Journal showed that men who drank two or more sugary soft drinks a day had an 85 per cent higher risk of gout than those who drank less than one a month.

Cases of gout in north America, where the study was carried out, have doubled in recent decades and the rise in consumption of soft drinks sweetened with fructose, a type of sugar, may be to blame, the researchers from the University of British Columbia said. There was no link with the consumption of diet drinks.

Gout is caused by a build up of uric acid in the blood, which leads to uric acid crystals collecting, normally around the joints. It usually affects the big toe, causing excruciating pain, but can affect any joint in the body. It tends to occur in attacks lasting three to 10 days and is the most common inflammatory arthritis in men. It affects one in 200 adults, mostly men aged 30 to 60. It is rare in women because they tend to have a lower level of uric acid (urate) in their blood stream.

Port has traditionally been seen as the chief cause of gout, leading to its description as the "disease of kings". In the days when only the rich ate and drank well, its victims were indeed concentrated in the upper echelons of society. But in today's over-fed society, with its copious supplies of alcohol, gout has been democratised. The postman is as likely to suffer as the prince. Gout has changed but the public perception of the disease has not.

The uric acid that is the cause of gout is normally a harmless waste product, dissolved in the blood and formed when the body breaks down substances known as purines. Uric acid is normally excreted through the kidneys but if too much is produced, or too little excreted, it can build up.

Gout usually attacks the hands and feet because the temperature in the extremities is lower than in the rest of the body, causing the uric acid to separate out and form small, sharp crystals that lodge in the joints, causing inflammation, tenderness and often excruciating pain.

However, the level of uric acid in the blood is not a clear guide to who will suffer from gout. Some people with high levels do not suffer, while others with normal levels do. Family history plays a part, as does the presence of other medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and poor kidney function.

Martin Kettle, the Guardian's highly regarded political columnist and opera lover, recently described his own battle with gout and its "unmatched pain", made worse by the mocking responses of those he told about it.

"Until I had my first attack 18 months ago, I was one of the ignorant majority too. When the word gout cropped up I thought of Dr Johnson and Pitt the Elder, not Tony Soprano and Harry Kewell (all gout sufferers). But then the gout crept silently into my foot in the night – a common initial assault – and my world changed. Ever since I have become aware that ignorance about gout is normal."

For Kettle, having an understanding employer and a job that allowed him to work from home – mostly in bare feet or wearing soft slippers – meant he could retain some semblance of normal life. But, as he observed, if your job depends on your feet, it is curtains as far as work is concerned. "No police officer could walk the beat with gout. No bus driver could safely get behind the wheel. Everything alters, even in your everyday life. You can't nip out to the shops in the way you used to. Queuing is a misery. Sitting in a theatre seat is uncomfortable. Long plane journeys can be excruciating."

The only defence against the condition is to reduce the intake of purines, contained in some foods and drink. Kidneys, liver, veal, turkey, anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines, mussels, asparagus, kidney beans, lentils, spinach and products that contain yeast, such as Marmite, should be avoided. While port is high in purines, so are beer and stout. Spirits also contain purines. Wine drinkers are more fortunate, as wine has low levels.

James Gillray's famous cartoon, "The Gout", depicting a snarling devil clamped to a man's foot sinking its fangs into his reddened swollen big toe, perfectly evokes the sudden burning pain of the condition. However, the diagnosis can be tricky as gout is one of more than 200 forms of arthritis, any one of which may cause inflammation, pain and swelling in the joints.

Sufferers should not despair. There are treatments ranging from ordinary pain killers to colchicine, available in tablet form, which helps reduce the build-up of uric acid in the blood. However, it causes nausea and stomach upsets and is not widely used.

For the worst affected, experiencing two or more attacks a year, allopurinol is the most widely prescribed medicine. Taken once a day, it lowers the amount of uric acid in the blood but takes two to three months to take effect.

Otherwise the best defence is to follow the usual advice on healthy lifestyles – take exercise, reduce weight (both of which will reduce uric acid levels), drink plenty of water, avoid purine-rich food and drink – and now those sugary fizzy drinks, too.