Causes Of Gout

Content

• When Should Patients Seek Treatment For Gout?
• What Are The Potential Complications Of Gout?
• What Is Gout? Know The Signs And Risk Factors
• How Can A Gout Attack Be Prevented?
• What Does A Gout Attack Look And Feel Like?

Dietary causes account for about 12% of gout, and include a strong association with the consumption of alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages, meat, and seafood. Among foods richest in purines yielding high amounts of uric acid are dried anchovies, shrimp, organ meat, dried mushrooms, seaweed, and beer yeast. Having gout, and especially chronic gout, can lead to serious health problems over time if left uncontrolled. Talk to your doctor about ways to prevent gout attacks during your sleep.

Uric acid usually passes through the kidneys and is eliminated from the body in urine. But it can build up in the blood and form painful, spiky crystals in your joints. This may happen if the body is making too much uric acid or if the kidneys are having a hard time filtering it out. While the big toe is the most common place for a gout attack to happen, gout can also affect surrounding joints in the foot, ankle, and knee. In the United States, gout is twice as likely in males of African descent than those of European descent.

When Should Patients Seek Treatment For Gout?

A rheumatologist can diagnose gout and make sure symptoms are not due to some other type of arthritis or an injury. The first symptoms usually are intense episodes of painful swelling in single joints, most often in the feet, especially the big toe. Fifty percent of first episodes occur in the big toe, but any joint can be involved. Fortunately, it is possible to treat gout and reduce its very painful attacks by avoiding food and medication triggers and by taking medicines that can help. However, diagnosing gout can be hard, and treatment plansoften must be tailored for each person.

How long does gout pain in toe last?

It's characterized by sudden and severe pain in the joints. It usually affects the joint at the base of the big toe, but can also affect the joints of the fingers, elbows, wrists, or knees. An episode of gout usually lasts for about 3 days with treatment and up to 14 days without treatment.

Although gout was once associated with medieval rulers–who were the only people wealthy enough to drink alcohol and eat meat regularly–anyone can develop gout. Eating high-purine foods can increase your risk of the disease, but other culprits play a role too. For example, people who are overweight have more body tissue; more body tissue means more purines that need to be broken down, producing more uric acid in the process. If you have high blood pressure or an underactive thyroid gland, you may be more likely to have higher levels of uric acid. Or, if someone in your family developed gout in the past, your genetics may be partly to blame.

What Are The Potential Complications Of Gout?

David Ozeri, MD, is a board-certified rheumatologist from Tel Aviv, Israel specializing in arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and biologic therapies. How Diabetes Can Affect Your Feet If you have diabetes, you probably already know you face certain health risks. The football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champ talks about living with the painful arthritic condition.

For the person with too much uric acid, this inflammation can cause painful arthritis, sometimes called gouty arthritis. Gout was the first disease in which researchers recognized that crystals in the synovial fluid could be the cause of joint pain. Also known as gouty arthritis, gout is caused by a buildup of uric acid in the bloodstream triggering joint pain and inflammation. When too much uric acid accumulates in the body, it collects into needle-shaped crystal deposits that settle into the joints , causing bursts of pain, redness, and swelling. Attacks tend to occur at night and subside after three to 10 days, even without medication. Flare-ups can also reoccur a few months or years later, and, left untreated, gout can cause permanent damage to the joints and the kidneys, which remove uric acid from the body.

This leads to the buildup of uric acid crystals in tissues of the body. The pain can be so intense that it can even wake you up from a deep sleep. Making lifestyle changes and getting treatment can help reduce symptoms and the number of flare-ups. Keep in mind that not everyone with high uric acid levels has gout. The American College of Rheumatology advises against consuming cherry juice or extract for a gout attack. If you are interested in non-medication therapy, talk with your doctor about eating cherries, drinking cherry juice concentrate, or taking cherry-containing supplements.

What Are The Complications Of Gout?

These attacks can happen over and over unless gout is treated. Over time, they can harm your joints, tendons, and other tissues. High uric acid levels can lead to both arterial hypertension and gout. In fact, about 25% of people with hypertension have elevated levels of uric acid. More than 30% of people with gout also have hypertension.

Many people with gout have a high level of uric acid in the blood. However, the uric acid level may be normal, especially during an acute flare-up. Many people have high levels of uric acid in the blood but do not have flare-ups of gout; therefore, a blood test alone is not sufficient for diagnosis. The major reason people develop gout is because their kidneys have difficulty excreting uric acid.

How Can A Gout Attack Be Prevented?

Alcohol – A high alcohol intake can increase the risk of hyperuricemia, since alcohol can interfere with urate excretion. Purine-rich foods – Eating foods that are rich in purines can lead to hyperuricemia and trigger gout. Gout usually affects the big toe, but the condition can also involve the wrists, fingers, knees, elbows, ankles or joints in the midfoot. When several joints are affected at the same time, the condition is referred to as polyarticular gout. Joints towards the centre of the body such as the shoulders or hips are rarely affected by gout.

Is Chicken OK for gout?

Meats like fish, chicken, and red meat are fine in moderation (around 4 to 6 ounces per day). Vegetables: You may see veggies like spinach and asparagus on the high-purine list, but studies show they don't raise your risk of gout or gout attacks.