Why gout can ruin your life and how to avoid it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This pain appears suddenly and disappears just as quickly. But you can't ignore her.

What is gout

The ancient Greeks who gave the name to this disease were metaphorical and at the same time categorically clear. Gout Gout. Symptoms and Causes literally means “foot trap”. Have you presented? Yes, yes, this is it: a sharp severe pain piercing the joint of the thumb, redness, swelling, "burning" skin.

The "trap" can let go of the foot in an hour or two, but it can hold it for several hours, or even days.

Most often, gout affects the joint of the big toe - one or both at once. But the disease is not limited only to the foot. This form of arthritis can affect absolutely any joint in your body: knees, ankles, elbows, wrists, fingers …

At first, the attacks go away rather quickly and sometimes may not recur for weeks or months. However, joint inflammation progresses. Each subsequent gout attack becomes longer and stronger, affecting more and more parts of the body. This is how chronic gouty arthritis occurs, which can one day lead to limited mobility and destruction of joints.

Why is this happening

Gout is caused by accumulated crystals of uric acid in the joints. Gout Pictures Slideshow: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments of Gout. This acid, in turn, is a breakdown product of purines - substances that are part of some food and drinks. For example, meat, seafood or beer.

Normally, the body removes uric acid by dissolving it in the blood, and then driving the blood through the kidneys, from where it is excreted in the urine.

But sometimes failures occur in this well-oiled mechanism.

There may be too much uric acid entering the bloodstream. Or maybe the kidneys are affected by disease and cannot cope with filtration. In this case, acid can build up in the body, forming sharp, needle-like crystals in joints or surrounding tissues. They are the ones that cause pain, swelling and chronic inflammation.

What leads to gout

Doctors list the most common Gout risk factors that can trigger the development of the disease.

1. Unhealthy diet

If you like barbecue, but with something intoxicating, gout Gout diet: What’s allowed, what’s not already squints in your direction. Meat, especially red meat, contains a large amount of purines, which means that it increases the concentration of uric acid in the blood. And alcohol makes it difficult for the kidneys and prevents them from properly removing acid from the body.

Beer is especially dangerous: it contains a large amount of purines Beer drinking and its effect on uric acid - organic substances that are converted into uric acid in our body. Other products provocateurs of this form of arthritis are:

• By-products - hearts, stomachs and other offal.
• Smoked products.
• Some varieties of fish.
• Peas, lentils.
• Sweet carbonated drinks.

2. Gender and age

Previously, gout was considered a "male" disease, since men had greater access to dangerous food - the same meat with beer. In addition, the male body produces more uric acid.

Typically, these two factors fire Gout. Symptoms and Causes at the age of 30-50 - at this age, most patients have their first gout attack.

Ever since women have gained equal access to food with men, gouty arthritis has affected them as well. True, gout comes to the weaker sex a little later - after menopause, when the level of uric acid in the female body begins to approach that of the male.

3. Excess weight

The more extra pounds, the higher the risks. In this case, the body produces more uric acid, and the kidneys are forced to filter more blood and may not be able to cope with the task.

4. Recent injuries, surgeries, physical overload

In such conditions, the body increases the production of uric acid.

5. Some diseases

Hypertension, diabetes, kidney and heart disease can also increase the level of uric acid in the blood.

6. Taking some medications

These include individual diuretics (in particular, those prescribed for the treatment of hypertension), as well as preparations containing salicylate.

7. Heredity

If any of your close relatives have gout, your risks are increased.

How to treat gout

First, you need to accurately diagnose. It is difficult to confuse gout with another disease: this "trap" is too typical. But still the final point in the question "Doctor, what's wrong with me?" must be delivered by a qualified physician - therapist, surgeon or rheumatologist.

You may need to do more research:

• Take a blood test to find out the level of uric acid and creatinine, a protein that is a marker of kidney function.
• Take X-rays of the joint to rule out other causes of inflammation, such as trauma.
• Do an ultrasound scan to look for uric acid crystals in the joint.
• Make an analysis of the synovial fluid of the joint to determine all the same crystals of uric acid.

The necessary tests will again be prescribed by the doctor. If gout is confirmed, the doctor will prescribe medications. They fall into two categories:

• Drugs that relieve pain and prevent future attacks. These include both over-the-counter pain relievers (such as ibuprofen) and more serious prescription options. And also corticosteroids - in the form of tablets or injections.
• Drugs that prevent complications from gout. Some of them block the production of uric acid in the body, while others improve kidney function.

Medication is the most effective way to treat acute gout and prevent it from becoming chronic. But in order to make drug therapy more effective, it is necessary to supplement it with lifestyle changes. By the way, they are also the prevention of this type of arthritis.

What to do to avoid getting gout

1. Eat a healthy diet

Limit the consumption of foods high in purines: meat (especially red), offal, semi-finished products (sausages, sausages), smoked meats. Don't overuse alcohol and sweetened soda.

2. Drink plenty of water

The fluid helps the body flush out excess uric acid.

3. Move more and exercise regularly

This is essential to maintain a healthy weight. Just don't overdo it. Physical overload or a diet that is too strict can be harmful, as it also forces the body to produce more uric acid.

4. Eat low-fat dairy products

According to Gout. Symptoms and Causes by experts at the Mayo Clinic, this sour milk reduces the risk of gout. This means that it can serve as an alternative to meat in terms of obtaining protein.