What is Gout?
The medical term gout is described as unexpected, severe pain attacks, tenderness and redness in joints, mostly the joint that is positioned at the bottom of our big toe. In addition to this, gout can also affect your wrists, hands, knees, ankles and feet.
This complex arthritis form, gout, can affect all of us. However males are at a higher risk to develop gout, yet females become more susceptible after menopause. Thankfully, the condition is treatable with ways to prevent gout to recur.
What are the symptoms of Gout?
The symptoms of the condition are mostly acute, occurring all of a sudden, without warning. Few of which include:
- Severe joint pain.
- Lingering discomfort.
- Redness and inflammation.
What are the causes of Gout?
The condition occurs when accumulation of urate crystals take place in the joint, causing intense pain and inflammation of a goat attack. When your blood contains increased uric acid, it results in forming urate crystals. Uric acid is produced by your body when purines break down. Purines are substances which are found in our body naturally.
Normally, the uric acid in our body dissolves and releases our body through urine. However, sometimes the kidneys tend to excrete very little amount of uric acid or the body produces excessive uric acid. Such leads the uric acid to accumulate, forming sharp urate crystals (like a needle) in the joints that cause swelling, inflammation and pain.
What are the complications of Gout?
Few serious conditions associated with goat include:
- Recurrent gout.
- Advanced gout.
- Kidney stones.
How is Gout diagnosed?
Few tests that your doctor can suggest in order to diagnose goat include:
- Blood test: the test will help measuring the level of uric acid in the blood.
- Joint fluid test: through a needle, the doctor will take out fluid from the affected joint in order to examine the presence of urate crystals.
How is Gout treated?
Usually, the treatment of gout tends to involves medications. Your overall health and preferences would help your doctor decide your treatment plan. The medications of gout can treat and prevent attacks in the future. Furthermore, they also minimize the possibility of complications linked with gout.
Few medications that help treating the gout attacks include:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Colchicines.
- Corticosteroids.
Few medications that help preventing the complications of gout include:
- Drug that help blocking the production of uric acid.
- Drug that help improving the removal of uric acid.
Discuss few dietary guidelines for people with gout:
During the periods which are symptoms-free, few dietary guidelines can greatly help you protect from gout attacks in the future:
- Increase your fluid intake.
- Avoid or limit the consumption of alcohol.
- Maintain a healthy body weight.
- Consume a balanced diet (emphasize more on vegetables, fruits, low-fat or fat-free milk products and whole grain).
- Get protein through low-fat dairy products.
- Limit the consumption of poultry, fish and meat.
By : Natural Health News
