Is there an association between drinking alcohol and getting gout? Yes, according to new research out of China, but not uniformly across men and women, nor across different beverages. Gout is a type of arthritis that often starts in the big toe, and researchers have been investigating which alcoholic drinks cause flare-ups most among men and women. Knuckle crackers fear not. Your habit does not appear to have any association with the onset of arthritis – although it may irritate the people around you. Meanwhile, those with arthritis have been given cause for preemptive celebration this year fo…