Uric Acid In Urine Test

Content

• Southington Care Center
• More Health News + Info
• Cancer Treatment
• Symptoms Of High And Low Levels

The pain and swelling of gout are caused by uric acid crystals that deposit in the joint. Uric acid is a substance that normally forms when the body breaks down waste products called purines. Uric acid usually is dissolved in the blood and passes through the kidneys into the urine. In people with gout, the uric acid level in the blood is so high that uric acid crystals are deposited in joints and other tissues. As stated, lowering serum urate levels is vital to the prevention of acute gout flares. Both positive and negative outcomes are directly related to patient adherence to therapy, provider initiation of drug therapy in a timely manner, and patient tolerance to the medications prescribed.

Hyperuricemia experienced as gout is a common complication of solid organ transplant. Apart from normal variation , tumor lysis syndrome produces extreme levels of uric acid, mainly leading to kidney failure. The Lesch–Nyhan syndrome is also associated with extremely high levels of uric acid. Please note that information provided through this free Service is not intended to be medical advice and should not be relied on as such. Although the laboratory strives to provide the largest single source of objective, scientific data on patient status, it is only one part of a complex biological picture of health or disease. As professional clinical laboratory scientists, our goal is to assist you in understanding the purpose of laboratory tests and the general meaning of your laboratory results.

Southington Care Center

This reduction helps the kidneys to filter out uric acid more effectively again. Other causes of hyperuricemia include errors in purine metabolism and kidney disease. A healthcare professional may take a small sample of blood with a needle or ask the person to collect their urine over a 24-hour period. Laboratory technicians will then test the sample for uric acid levels. The following table gives low, normal, and high levels of uric acid in the blood. If you experience symptoms or side effects, especially if severe, be sure to discuss them with your health care team.

It is not known why some people do not react to abnormally high levels of uric acid. Hyperuricemia is defined as a serum uric acid level of more than 6.8 mg/dL or 7.0 mgdL in men or more than 6.0 mg/dL in women. Most patients with hyperuricemia are asymptomatic and never develop gout. The presence or absence of hyperuricemia is not diagnostic of gout.

More Health News + Info

Being dehydrated can also increase the concentration of uric acid in the blood. High fructose intake was linked to gout in a Choi-led study published in 2008. Uric acid is one of the products of fructose metabolism, and there's good evidence from controlled feeding studies that fructose increases uric acid levels in the blood. Much of the fructose in today's American diet comes from the high-fructose corn syrup that's used to sweeten soft drinks and many other foods and drinks. Gout occurs when surplus uric acid coalesces into crystals, which causes inflammation in the joints. But gout is still very much with us, and the number of Americans affected seems to be increasing, at least partly because of the obesity epidemic.

The third category of medications are those used during attacks of acute gout to decrease pain and inflammation. Both colchicine and NSAIDs can be used during an acute gout attack to decrease inflammation and pain. Corticosteroids such as prednisone, methylprednisolone , and prednisolone , also can be used during an acute gouty flare. However, the total dose of steroids is generally limited due to potential side effects such as cataract formation and bone loss.

Over time, increased uric acid levels in the blood may lead to deposits of urate crystals in and around the joints. These crystals can attract white blood cells, leading to severe, painful gout attacks and chronic arthritis. Uric acid also can deposit in the urinary tract, causing kidney stones.

How long does uric acid stay in your system?

It can take up to 2 years for crystals to be completely cleared from the body, so people may continue to have attacks during this time.

Colchicine can cause signs and symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, and rarely muscle weakness and abnormal blood counts. MICHAEL H. BROSS, M.D., is associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Monarthric gout responds well to corticosteroids given by intra-articular injection. Systemic corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone , in a dosage of 20 to 30 mg per day) are used only when NSAIDs and colchicine are not effective or are contraindicated. Distribution includes the feet, ankles, knees, hands and elbows. See related patient information handout on gout, written by the authors of this article.

Lifestyle changes are important in preventing attacks and managing the condition. Measures include losing weight, limiting foods and beverages with a high purine content, and limiting alcohol. Other medications are aimed at preventing future attacks by lowering uric acid in the body. A prescription medicine called colchicine helps reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation.

Other organ transplants, such as heart and liver, also increase the risk of developing gout. This is because the surgery itself raises the risk of developing gout, as does the medicine cyclosporine used to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Cyclosporine also interacts with indomethacin, a common gout medicine. When gout remains untreated, the periods between attacks of acute gout become shorter and shorter and the attacks, although sometimes less intense, can last longer. In about 10 to 20 years gout becomes a chronic disorder with constant low-grade pain and mild or acute inflammation. Gout may later affect several joints, including those that may have been free of symptoms at the start of the disorder.

Gout is strongly linked to obesity, hypertension , hyperlipidemia and diabetes. Because of genetic factors, gout tends to run in some families. Although many people have their first gout attack in one of their big toes, gout attacks can also happen in other joints. Gout comes in sudden, and sometimes severe attacks, also called flares, or flare-ups. During a gout attack you may have pain, swelling, and/or redness in your joints.

However, a diet very low in purines is extremely difficult to follow, because purines are a natural part of many healthy foods. Even when a diet very low in purines is followed strictly, the uric acid level in the bloodstream is only slightly lowered. A tophus is a hard nodule of uric acid that deposits under the skin. Tophi can be found in various locations in the body, commonly on the elbows, upper ear cartilage, and on the surface of other joints.

The first line of treatment are xanthine oxidase inhibitors like allopurinol and febuxostat. If you think you’re experiencing a gout attack, see your primary care doctor or a rheumatologist to begin treatment for the disease. It’s important to see a doctor during a gout flare because your doctor may want to remove fluid from the affected joint and look at it under a microscope to check for the presence of uric acid crystals. Identifying uric acid crystals in joint fluid helps confirm a gout diagnosis.

New Gout Treatment Guidelines Emphasize Genetic Risk, Need For Medications

Symptoms that take days or weeks to develop probably point to a problem other than gout. The first step in diagnosing gout is to determine which joints are affected. A physical examination and medical history can help confirm or rule out gout. For example, gout is more likely if arthritis first appears in the big toe.

Certain joint infections can produce symptoms similar to gout. If an infection is suspected, the doctor may check joint fluid for bacteria. Hyperuricemia occurs when uric acid levels in the blood are too high.