ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Uric Acid & Gout, Its Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

Updated on August 13, 2013
cbguillermo profile image

Caroline is a Business Management professional w/ diverse work experience in Banking, Communications, Retail Sales & Hospitality Industries.

Source

I happened to have had a colleague whose husband died from initially having this Gout disease and so I was motivated to do a little research and share this to everyone. I too have occasional symptoms of gout but was able to manage it by keeping myself informed and I hope to inform many as well.

Uric Acid and Gout

Gout is a metabolic disorder or the body’s inability to process uric acid, the final metabolite or by-product of purines. Purines are natural substances that are naturally present in most of the food we eat that’s being broken down by our body’s digestive & waste system to help build up our body cells & tissues. Uric acid acts as an anti-oxidant and helps protect our blood vessels & its linings.

Normally, uric acid is dissolved in blood and flushed out by the kidney through urine. Gout occurs when uric acid in the blood have increased to a higher level which when crystallized, triggers our body’s immune defense system to cause inflammatory reaction on our joints, tendons and surrounding tissues where they are deposited. It is a form of arthritis.

Symptoms of Gout

It appears as a red, tender, swollen, painful joint/s, usually in the base of our big toe (metatarsal phalangeal joint). It is also called “podagra” when it specifically affects the big toe. Other joints such as heels, knees, wrists & fingers may also be affected.

A moderate attack usually lasts within 2-4 hours and may specially occur during the night when our body’s temperature is low. It may also be accompanied by fatigue & high fever. The attack depends on the severity of gout, it can lasts for days or even weeks. It normally subsides even without medication but can be recurring over a period of time.

Causes of Gout

The main cause of gout is hyperuricemia or over-production/too much uric acid in the blood. Note though that not all individuals with hyperuricemia has gout because the former can manifest in other ways such as but not limited to - stone formation in the kidney, urate nephropathy, chronic arthritis & other diseases.

Other causes are:

Dietary – like obesity, over consumption of alcohol, fructose-sweetened drinks like those in colas & artificial juices, purine-rich foods, sea foods & meat organs like chicken/pork livers, kidneys etc. Diuretics like teas are also indicated to trigger gout.

It can also be associated with other medical conditions like metabolic syndrome, under-renal excretion of uric acid in urine, sleep apnea, surgery, physical trauma etc. It may also be as a side-effect of synthetic drugs or medicines like aspirin, niacin, cyclosporine, hydrochlorothiazide, ethambutol & other medicines which can elevate the level of uric acid in the blood.

It is also partly genetic or hereditary. (I can attest to that)

Foods to Avoid Gout

Click thumbnail to view full-size
cocktails and other alcoholic beveragessoda & artificial juicesseafoodsbeans & peas
cocktails and other alcoholic beverages
cocktails and other alcoholic beverages | Source
soda & artificial juices
soda & artificial juices | Source
seafoods
seafoods | Source
beans & peas
beans & peas | Source

Prevention of Gout

Frequent occurrence can be prevented by making changes in lifestyle & dietary choices: adequate intake of Vitamin C, frequent drinking of water, enough sleep, regular exercise, involving on sporty activities to help avoid obesity, avoiding or limiting purine-rich foods & alcohol. Examples of purine-rich foods are shellfish/seafood, beef/lamb, beans/peas, beers & other alcoholic beverages.

Treatment and Cure for Gout

Not a medical advice: Use of pain relievers such as Acetaminophen relieves pain while non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAID such as Naproxen reduces/eliminates swelling. For frequent attacks, allopurinol provides relief & long-term prevention. Allopurinol decreases the level of uric acid in the blood by blocking the metabolic conversion of purines in the food we ate to turn into uric acid. However this drug should not be taken if the patient already has poor kidney function. Once taken by the patient, it should be maintained at the same doses, lowering or increasing its dosage only encourages gout attacks.

US FDA approved the use of Febuxostat in 2009 to manage hyperuricemia and gout but the same precaution should be done as with taking Allopurinol. Febuxostat though has advantage over Allopurinol as the former is not significantly metabolized by the kidney thus it is safer to use by those with kidney problems.

It’s still best to consult a doctor for proper medication. It is also suggested to have your uric acid level be monitored regularly by undergoing blood test and/or urine test or other related tests.

Prognosis

As gout is a progressive disease, it is recommended that you seek medical treatment.  If this condition is unattended or not medically treated, frequent attacks or episodes of gout may lead to chronic gout which may result to deformity and/or destruction of joint surfaces, bone erosion, kidney stones and other cases.

Trivia

Gout comes from the Latin word “gutta” which means “a drop” (of liquid).  It was historically known as “disease of the kings” or “richman’s disease”.  It was the English physician Alfred Baring Garrod who discovered that the excess uric acid in the blood is the cause of gout.

Benjamin Franklin had gout and once wrote “ Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls and sloth; Or the Gout will seize you and plague you both”

Credit to Sources:

http://www.medicinenet.com

http://wikipedia.org

http://whfoods.com

http://gout.com

http://gout-aware.com

Do you have gout or know someone who have gout?

See results

© 2011 Caroline Guillermo

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)