What is gout and what are the symptoms

Gout is one of the oldest medical conditions in the history of medicine. Approximately, six million Americans are affected by gout at some point in their lives. Gout is especially prevalent in middle age men. Gout is a painful type of arthritis that causes severe inflammation of the joints, especially in the big toe. An episode of gout will cause extremely debilitating pain and suffering. This painful type of arthritis has been extensively studied since the ancient times. Learning to cope with gout requires having the knowledge on what causes gout, and preventing future gout attack. Frequent gout attacks are prevented by taking the right medicine and altering your lifestyle and diet to avoid future outbreaks.

What is gout?

Gout is a hereditary disease that is caused by an excess of uric acid that builds up in the fluids of the joints. Uric acid is a useful tool in getting rid of waste in the digestive system. Uric acid is transported as waste through the kidneys when we urinate. When the flow of uric acid is blocked, it builds up in the bloodstream, causing an attack of gout to occur. The accumulation of uric acid causes crystals to be deposited in and around the joints. This deposit of crystals can lead to an impairment of the function of the kidneys, and can cause kidney stones.

What causes gout?

Heredity is an important factor in having a predisposition to getting gout. Being overweight increases the risk of getting gout due to the potential of overweight people having an excess of uric acid in the body. A person who drinks too much alcohol increases the risk of developing hyperuricemia, resulting in blocking the elimination of uric acid from the body. Eating food that has a high level of purines can lead to a gout attack. High amounts of purines in the body produce uric acid that causes crystals to accumulate in the joints. This triggers a gout attack complete with severe pain and inflammation.

Signs and symptoms of gout

The symptom of gout appears when there is an accumulation of uric acid in the body. The sign that a gout attack is occurring is a sudden intense pain which occurs without any warning, usually late at night. This severe pain occurs in joints like the feet, knees, hands, ankles, fingers and wrist, but gout is especially prevalent in the big toe. The symptoms of gout include a burning and painful swelling of the joints, which is characterized by red and tender joints. The medical term for gout that occurs in the big toe is Podagra. The onset of a gout attack usually occurs late at night because the temperature of the body is lower at night leaving the body susceptible to a gout attack. Besides the excruciating pain, a person suffering from gout can have symptoms of fever, chills and extreme fatigue. An episode of gout usually subsides within a week or two if not treated. Gout can go into remission and not appear again for months or years. Repeated episodes of gout can cause some loss of mobility and subsequent damage to the joints. Psedogout is a form of arthritis that is often confused with gout, but Pseudogout usually affects the knees.

Prevention and treatment of gout

You can prevent subsequent bouts of gout by changing your lifestyle and your diet. Go on a diet and lose weight if you are overweight. Monitor your blood pressure, drink plenty of fluids and limit your consumption of alcohol. Avoid foods that are rich in purines, such as certain kinds of meat, to avoid an excess of uric acid in your body. Many people have found that eating papaya is helpful in treating gout symptoms. Take the proper medicine to treat gout and to prevent gout from returning. NSAIDS are used to treat the symptoms and pain of a gout attack. Colchicine lowers the amount of uric acid in the body, and it is used to cure flare-ups of gout and to prevent future attacks. Other drugs like Allopurinol and Probenecid are used specifically to prevent repeated attacks of gout.