Prevent And Treat Gout Symptom Complications

                

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Gout is a form or arthritis, which can attack very suddenly. When a gout attack occurs the inflamed joint becomes very red, swollen and painful. To treat gout symptom issues there are a number of steps that you can take which are effective.

Firstly, you need to have the gout diagnosed. It is important to know that the pain and swelling you are experiencing is indeed gout and not another form of arthritis or infection.

The procedure to check if you have gout is straightforward, and involves a medical professional taking a sample of fluid from the effected joint and checking for uric acid crystals.

Once you have the gout diagnosis confirmed by a medical professional you could start to consider ways to treat the condition.

Many doctors will recommend one of the following medication options:

NSAIDS will often be prescribed to reduce the pain. It is a group of anti-inflammatory medications that helps to reduce inflammation, swelling and pain.

The other options are medications that focus on preventing rather than treating the symptoms. These medications, such as allopurinal and probenecid, target the production and removal of uric acid from the body.

If using drugs to manage your gout does not appeal to you due to the potential side effects, then you can adopt a gout-friendly diet that limits foods with high levels of purine.

Consuming too much purine is one of the most common reason for developing gout. As purine is a compound found in much of our food and in our tissues in or body, and when it is broken down and metabolized, it produces uric acid.

It is excess uric acid that causes gout symptoms, as rather than being eliminated as waste via the kidneys, the extra uric acid stays in the bloodstream. This results in a build up of uric acid crystals in the spaces between the joints, usually in the foot and big toe joints. It is these sharp crystals which cause the painful inflammation and redness.

Foods with very high purine levels such as offal, meats, gravies, shellfish and dried legumes should be avoided. Try replacing them with gout-friendly foods such as cereal based food, corn, eggs, dairy products and fruit.

If you're a gout sufferer and overweight, now is the time to really get serious about losing those extra pounds. Being overweight can add to gout complications as carrying excess weight impacts on the kidneys ability to process the increased levels of uric acid.

Drinking sufficient liquids is also vital for optimum liver function. You need to be drinking 6 - 8 eight-ounce glasses of preferably water a day. Or if you do not like to drink water, tea and fruit juices are okay to include in your quota. Staying hydrated is important and means that your urine is diluted, allowing your kidneys to expel the extra uric acid.

When suffering from gout it's also worth limiting your alcohol intake, particularly beer as it contains high purine levels. And, it is worth noting that any alcohol will impair the ability of the body to process and remove excess uric acid.

These tips should be able to see how to prevent and treat gout symptom complications. For more information on all aspects of gout please visit our site.

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Gout - A Disease Of Indulgence

                

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Gout develops when the level of uric acid in the blood is too high. In the past it was known as the patrician's malady because it was considered a diseased of over indulgence amongst the wealthy. High purine diet can affect gout and red meat is high in purine. The rich ate red meat while the poor could only afford grain.

Gout is predominantly a male disease up to the age of 50. It starts around 30 and the peak is between 40 and 50 years. It is rare in pre-menopausal women. Hippocrates wrote about gout as a disease of males and post-menopausal women and urate crystals were found in the big toe of an Egyptian mummy.

Gout can be classified as primary and secondary. In primary gout the body either produces too much uric acid or it cannot excrete it effectively to maintain a normal blood level. These patients benefit significantly from dietary changes. Secondary gout develops as a result of other factors. Some medical conditions can raise uric acid level and trigger gout. These include renal disease and myeloproliferative disorders. In leukaemia, the imbalance is due to excessive production of uric acid, and in renal disease the excretion of uric acid is impeded. Drugs can affect blood uric acid levels. These include diuretics especially thiazide diuretics, aspirin and cytotoxic drugs. Gout is also linked to obesity and alcohol.

Acute gout usually develops during the night. 70-90% of acute gout develops in the big toe and typically affects the first metatarso-phalangeal joint. This is called podagra. Within hours the pain becomes severe and throbbing. The big toe swells up and can feel hot. It is extremely painful to the touch and even the touch of the bed sheath can induce excruciating pain. The acute episode resolves on its own but can take over a week. Medication can shorten this time.

Since the introduction in 1951 of probenacid and allopurinol in 1963, chronic gout is rare apart from non-compliant sufferers. Before these drugs were introduced chronic gout caused severe distress amongst sufferers. Acute gout was frequent and severe. In addition urate crystals separated out into other joints, kidneys and other organs leading to polyarthritis, kidney stones, heart disease and tophi.

Diet and weight loss has an important role in gout management. A low intake of purine can reduce blood urate level by up to 20%. Foods high in purine are meat especially liver and other organ meat, sausages and other processed meat, seafood, milk, eggs and certain beans. Alcohol increases the possibility of gout. Beer is the worse culprit. It contains guanosine. This chemical is converted by the gut flora into uric acid.

Today, with screening and tests done for insurance purpose, we are seeing a group of individuals with high uric acid without any signs of gout. These people need to be monitored. Once all potential factors that can influence gout are eliminated or reduced and diet and weight loss in place, if the uric acid level remains high, then maintenance therapy in the form of allopurinol is recommended to keep the blood uric acid level within the normal range. This stops urate crystals separating out into important parts of the body.

Dr.Phil Hariram is retired General Practitioner. He has treated gout and arthritis for 27 years. http://www.arthritissage.com

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What Are The Symptoms Of Gout

                

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Gout is an arthritis-based condition in which the body produces high levels of uric acid that forms crystals in the blood. These crystals travel through the body and are deposited in joints throughout the body, usually settling in the big toes, causing severe pain and swelling. An attack of gout usually lasts between five and ten days and is excruciating.

Gout is almost always found in men who are over the age of forty, but it can also occur in women who are in menopause.

No one knows for certain what causes gout, although some studies suggest that there are a number of different causes. There may be a defect in the person's metabolism that causes the body to create and retain too much uric acid. Another cause may be that the kidney is damaged to the point of preventing the disposal of uric acid.

If a person is being treated for high blood pressure, Thiazide diuretic medications may cause an onset of gout. There are certain blood diseases and cancers that may also get it started.

There are four stages in diagnosing gout.

Asymptomatic stage is when the uric acid in the blood is extremely high, but there are no symptoms of gout. No swelling and no pain.

The acute stage is when it is gout is most painful. The pain starts in the joints as a dull ache and quickly becomes excruciating. Swelling soon follows and the affected area will be very hot. Your joints will turn red and look as though you are bruised.

The intercritical stage is when the patient does not have gout attacks on a regular basis. The attack can be spread out between six months to two years of each other. There are reported cases when an attack has not re-occurred for ten years.

The chronic stage is perhaps the worse stage of all. This is when joints are extremely painful because of large crystals that are not only deposited in the joints, but also in between the bones, in membranes and soft tissue.

It is easy to recognize gout because the skin that is covering the crystal deposits develops ulcers that leak. A lesser, but equally painful, symptom is stiffness, leaving the patient unable to move the areas that are affected.

When diagnosing gout, your doctor will order blood tests and x-rays.

The blood tests are to determine the level of uric acid that is in your blood and the x-rays are to find where the crystal deposits are and to determine what the extent of the damage is.

The treatment for Gout is different for each person. Usually it is treated through medication and dietary changes. By following your doctor's instructions, you can lessen the severity of each attack.The above information about Gout is submitted to us from Heather Colman at: gout-talk.info.

Four Stages Of Gout

                

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Gout is a very painful form of arthritis. Gout occurs when there is an abundance of uric acid built up in the body. When there is a buildup of Uric acid in the body it can lead to things such as sharp uric acid crystals in the joints throughout the body especially in the big toes, other deposits of uric acid, which are called, tophi, that look very similar to lumps underneath the skin, and the formation of kidney stones which is a result from a buildup of uric acids in the kidneys.

For the majority of people that have the unfortunate occurrence to get gout it most often strikes in the area of the big toe. Many times the gout attack can be severe and very painful as it often awakens one from sleep when the attack occurs. The big toe which is inflicted with gout is extremely sensitive and sore and often times warm and swollen.

Gout can be broken down into four main stages:

1. Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia is the first stage of gout in which you will not feel any symptoms but gout is starting to form. In stage one the uric acid levels are higher and it needs to be taken care of so that the uric acid does not precipitate out of blood and then become crystallized in kidneys or the joints.

2. The second stage of gout is acute gout or acute gouty arthritis. It is at stage two when gout starts to do damage to the body. High levels of uric acid make it so it is impossible for the blood to keep it in a form that is dissolved and it begins to crystallize and then be deposited in joint spaces. This is when pain and swelling then occurs. Attacks generally happen in the evening and if not treated can last for weeks at a time. If not treated still the attacks become more severe and last for longer periods of time.

3. The third stage of gout is Intercritical gout as this is the time when an attack of gout has subsided. In stage three there are no symptoms but it is because the body?s immune system is stabilizing itself for more attacks on the uric acid crystals which form because of the high concentration of blood. If the person afflicted with gout does not get treatment by stage three the disease can be hard to control.

4. The fourth and final stage of gout is chronic gout which is the worst and most destructive stage of the disease. By stage four the gout has caused permanent damage to the joints and in some cases the kidneys as well. At stage four the affiliated joint can become deteriorated and cause extreme pain which can be crippling. In extreme cases the kidney can lose its functions which can lead to kidney failure and death.

Gout is a disease like many others which builds upon itself if not treated at the beginning stages. By seeing the symptoms early and being checked by a physician you can reduce the chances of gout reaching the latter stages.
Lisa McDowell has an interest in Gout. For further information on Gout please visit Gout or Gout Symptoms