A Concise History Of Gout And Hyperuricemia And Their Treatment

Content

• Information About Medicines For Gout
• Who Gets Pseudogout?
• Drugs Used To Treat Gout

We spoke with Edwin Aquino, MD, a rheumatologist at Banner – University Medical Center Tucsonto gain a better understanding of how gout can be diagnosed, prevented and treated. Although many people have their first gout attack in one of their big toes, gout attacks can also happen in other joints. Home remedies for an acute gout attack include drinking plenty of water. Gout frequently involves joints in the lower extremities. Podagra is the medical term for inflammation at the base of the big toe.

How can I reduce uric acid in my body?

Natural Ways to Reduce Uric Acid in the Body 1. Limit purine-rich foods.
2. Avoid sugar.
3. Avoid alcohol.
4. Lose weight.
5. Balance insulin.
6. Add fiber.
7. Reduce stress.
8. Check medications and supplements.

Pseudogout is a condition most likely to be confused with gout. Scientists have found a clear link between body weight and uric acid level. The higher a person's body mass index , the higher the chance of developing gout. As a result, the risk of developing gout in many countries is rising because of the rising incidence of obesity. Children who are obese may have an increased risk of developing gout as adults.

Information About Medicines For Gout

The medications listed below are used to treat or prevent tophi and to prevent future gout episodes. (In addition, allopurinol is used to prevent kidney stone formation.) However, these medications do not relieve the pain and inflammation of an acute attack. They may cause you to have more gout episodes when you first start taking them, so you may have to take colchicine or an NSAID at the same time for the first three to six months to prevent such attacks. If you must take them, however, you'll probably have to do so for the rest of your life in order to prevent future problems. Gout is a specific type of arthritis caused by uric acid crystals in your joints and other tissues.

For people who are overweight, losing weight can greatly to help lower the risk of gout attacks. Exercise is also especially important not only for weight loss, but because it helps lower uric acid in the blood. Maintaining a healthy weight is also important because it can lessen the risk of heart disease or stroke, says the Arthritis Foundation. Do be cautious to lose weight gradually, as drastic weight loss can trigger an attack.

Who Gets Pseudogout?

Choose low-impact activities such as walking, bicycling and swimming — which are easier on your joints. Your doctor may recommend colchicine , an anti-inflammatory drug that effectively reduces gout pain. The drug's effectiveness may be offset, however, by side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. This test uses sound waves to detect urate crystals in joints or in tophi. Much like NSAIDs, colchicine is most effective in the early stages of an attack. This agent is available as an oral or intravenous medication, although intravenous use is no longer available in most formularies because of the high risks of serious toxicities.

For unknown reasons, not all people who have an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood develop gout. Attacks usually start during the night, and moderate pain in a joint is first noticed. The pain becomes persistently worse and has a continuous, gnawing quality.

Joints Affected By Gout

Order laboratory tests, take a sample of fluid from one of your painful joints, or order imaging tests. Eating foods that are rich in purines , a substance that breaks down into urate. Rarely, younger people develop the disease; however, if they do, the disease tends to be worse. Protect your joints.Joint injuries can cause or worsen arthritis.

However, studies have shown that even the most rigorous diet does not lower the serum uric acid enough to control severe gout, and therefore medications are generally necessary. Gout often is associated with high blood pressure, heart and kidney disease, or the use of medications that increase uric acid levels. Therefore, health care providers should test for these related health problems. Researchers are studying whether lowering blood uric acid levels can help heart disease and kidney disease. When your body has extra uric acid, sharp crystals may form in the big toe or other joints, causing episodes of swelling and pain called gout attacks. Gout is treatable with medications and changes in diet and lifestyle.

Is gout a serious problem?

Gout is more than just painful flares. If not managed properly, over time gout can cause permanent joint destruction, bone erosion and kidney damage. With advances in treatments and understanding of the disease, gout is a manageable condition and flares can be controlled with the appropriate long-term management.

Make sure to see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis. It’s a necessary building block for DNA and RNA, two main types of nucleic acids — they both carry genetic information. Our bodies get rid of unneeded purines by converting them into uric acid. A number above 6.8 in the blood means it is likely to deposit in places around the body. Kidney stonesPeople with gout are more likely to developkidney stonesas a result of too much uric acid in the kidneys.

It's often linked with obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol , and diabetes. Colchicine has been used to treat gout for over 2,400 years. It usually is taken by mouth in several small doses every day. It works best if taken during the first two days of an attack. When taken by mouth, colchicine can cause diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps.

Deposition of monosodium urate crystals in the kidney can result in inflammation and fibrosis, leading to reduced renal function or chronic nephropathy. Rarely, gout can produce spinal cord impingement when deposition in tissues produces a local mass. Some medicines may raise the level of uric acid in your body and lead to a gout attack. Such medicines include aspirin and some types of diuretics ("water pills"). Tell your health care professional all of the medicines you take, and always talk with him or her before you stop taking any medicine.

One potential advantage of febuxostat is that it is structurally quite different from allopurinol, and therefore likely can be used in patients who are allergic to allopurinol. Only a limited number of patients who were allergic to allopurinol have been studied to date, but the drug was tolerated in those patients. Another advantage is that its excretion is handled more by the liver than the kidney, unlike allopurinol, and febuxostat may thus have some advantage in patients with kidney dysfunction.

Request Your Goutful Booklet

Therefore, any patient with gout and hyperuricemia should be treated with urate-lowering medication. Pseudogout is also called calcic gout or calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease. Like gout, pseudogout is caused by deposits of crystals in and around the joints. But the type of crystals of pseudogout is calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate . These are quite different under the microscope compared to uric acid crystals.

You may also like:

New Gout Guidelines And 'treat To Target'

Everything You Should Know About Gout

Steps To Take During A Gout Flare

Gout Diagnosis And Management

Diagnosis And Management Of Gout

All About Gout

Gout Diagnosis And Management