Researchers have cheering news for grumpy old port drinkers. Beer drinkers are far more likely to develop gout than those who quaff wine.

But the age-old hypothesis linking men's alcohol consumption generally to the common form of arthritis appears to have been verified.

A study of the lifestyle habits of 47,000 US male medical staff, including dentists, osteopaths and vets, suggests two or more beers a day increases by two-and-a-half times the risk of developing gout by comparison with non-beer drinkers.

A couple of shots from a bottle of spirits daily increases the risk by 1.6 times, while two glasses of wine has no effect on the chances of big toes or joints being inflamed by the painful but treatable condition.

Researchers from Massachusetts general hospital and other parts of Harvard medical school in Boston followed the medical history of the men, aged 40 to 75, over 12 years. During that time, 730 developed gout and increased risk began at fairly low levels of alcohol consumption.

But there were differences in the role of drinks, according to the results from the study, published in the Lancet.

Researcher Hyon Choi said beer "increased the risk of serving (of alcohol) per day more than twice as much as did spirits, even though the alcohol content per serving was less for beer than spirits. Consumption of two 4oz glasses of wine was not associated with any increased risk of gout."

He suggested one possible cause was the amount of purines, chemicals found in high levels in beer, yeast extracts, liver, offal and some oily fish, all foods which the Arthritis Research Council says are not recommended for gout sufferers.

These might further boost levels of uric acid in the blood, already raised by consumption of alcohol.

Gout often runs in families and is caused when urate, salt from uric acid, builds up and forms crystals in the joints.

But over-indulgence in alcohol has since Roman times been blamed for making attacks more likely. In later centuries, port was seen as a prime culprit.