Have you ever heard about gout? This is also called as metabolic arthritis.
Gout is a syndrome due to a hereditary disorder of uric acid metabolism.
In this state monosodium urate or uric acid crystals are placed on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues.
This condition is due to the high concentrations of uric acid in the blood stream.
This condition can cause acute pain and swelling in the joints. Most commonly gout affects the big toe, but it can also affect the ankle, elbow, hand, heel, or wrist. Suddenly you can get affected with this condition and it goes away after 5-10 days. It can also reoccur.
Sometimes your body produces too much uric acid or your kidneys are unable to filter it from the blood. The main cause of gout is higher concentration of uric acid.
Gout is particularly a painful attack and causes joint inflammation. Up to one million people in the United States are suffering from gout. This disease is more common in men than in women. Usually men after puberty can get affected by gout. In women gout attacks normally occur after menopause.
Find out the causes of Gout!
The main cause of gout is uric acid. Due to the accumulation of uric acid, an inflammation occurs in your joint. It is formed from the breakdown of purines. Purines are the substances which are found naturally in your body and also in certain foods.
Purines can be especially found in meats such as brains, kidneys, liver and sweetbreads and also found in asparagus, anchovies, mushrooms and herring.
Sometimes crystal deposits can also cause a condition known as false gout or pseudo gout. This condition can also affect the big toe. It affects large joints such as your knees, wrists and ankles.
Effects of gout on your body!
The progression of the disease generally takes place through four stages. These stages often occur at night. These stages include:
- Asymptomatic hyperuricemia
- Acute gouty arthritis
- Interval or inter critical gout
- Chronic tophaceous gout
Most of the signs and symptoms of gout are acute. They occur suddenly and usually occur at night.
Gout can cause intense joint pain. This condition usually affects the large joint of your big toe and it can also occur in your feet, ankle, knees, hands and wrists.
You will experience the pain for five to ten days. You will feel the discomfort over one to two weeks.
Inflammation and redness of the skin can occur. The affected joints become swollen, tender and red.
How to treat gout?
- Anti-inflammatory pain killers can give relief from the pain of most attacks of gout.
- If you are allergic to anti-inflammatories, then your practitioner will prescribe alternative medicine called as colchicines.
- Place ice tubes on affected areas. It eases your pain.
- Don’t consume alcohol, because these are the source of purines else cut it out completely.
- Be careful with your diet plan. Reduce the calorie consumption and the amount of cholesterol. Avoid the foods like shellfish, offal and spinach.
In order to get relief from the symptoms of gout you need to follow the above treatment steps.
