A doctor has issued a passionate warning about a medical condition wrongly believed to have been cured in the Victorian era.

Once an illness of the wealthy and believed to have been endured by Henry VIII in later life, the conditions affects around 2.5% of the UK population.

Gout affects around one in 40 Brits, but in some parts of England, there have been almost a 1,000 per cent rise in cases in just four years.

Speaking on BBC Morning Live, Dr van Tulleken warned people who think they have gout should visit their GP immediately.

He said: “Gout is terribly, terribly painful. Arthritis is painful in general, but gout is almost what you’d call exquisitely painful.

It is the kind of pain that patients will describe not even allowing a bedsheet to gently touch their toe because that will set it off.

“You have this kind of appalling pain. The Victorian cartoons, if you look them up, are great. They have a demon with fangs biting into your toe. That’s how it feels.

“What you are looking at is a hot, red, tender joint – typically the big toe. It can affect any joint, but it is more often the one at the end of our limbs.

“The important thing to say if you have a hot, red, tender joint is that it could be something else. It could be an infected joint so it is definitely important to seek care urgently. Speak to your GP – you may get put on antibiotics. Even if they don’t work and it turns out to be gout, it is not unwise to try that because it can be so dangerous to have an infected joint.”

The NHS website says: “Gout is a type of arthritis that causes sudden, severe joint pain. Painkillers can help the pain and healthier lifestyle choices can prevent future attacks.”

Symptoms include sudden severe pain in a joint – usually your big toe, but also other joints as well as hot, swollen, red skin over the affected joint.

Attacks of gout are usually treated with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen but steroids may also be administered if required.

Weight loss, a healthy diet and regular exercise are listed as some of the measures that sufferers can take to ensure that the condition does not reoccur.