What is gout

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes joint pain and swelling, usually in flares that last a week or two and then resolve. Gout flares commonly occur in your big toe or a lower leg. Gout occurs when your body’s serum urate levels rise, causing needle-shaped crystals to develop in and around the joint. This causes joint inflammation and arthritis. Urate levels in the body rise when the body produces too much urate or eliminates too little. Many patients with high serum urate levels, on the other hand, do not get gout.

What are the symptoms of gout?

Gout is characterized by rapid, repeated bouts of symptoms that frequently occur without warning. Chronic, severe gout can cause deformities. Symptoms can manifest themselves in a variety of ways depending on the individual. The following are typical symptoms:

• Tenderness; the joint can also be warm to the touch and look red or purple
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Chills
• Fever
• General feeling of illness
• Hard lumps of urate crystal deposits under the skin (tophi)
• Severe, sudden pain in one or more joints, most often the joint in the big toe
• Swollen joint(s)
• Warmth in the joint area

What causes gout?

The human body produces uric acid as a byproduct of the breakdown of purines, which are found in certain foods and beverages. When you pee, this normal byproduct passes through your kidneys and exits your body.

The body can produce an excessive amount of uric acid at times. Or the kidneys are incapable of dealing with it. Uric acid crystals can accumulate in the joints when the body’s uric acid levels are high, a condition known as hyperuricemia. Gout is caused by sharp, needle-like crystals. Many people with high uric acid levels, on the other hand, never develop gout.

Prevention of Gout

You can help avoid gout by doing the following steps:

• Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Limit how much purine-rich food, such as shellfish, lamb, beef, pork, and organ meat, you eat.
• Eat a low-fat, nondairy diet that’s rich in vegetables.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Avoid smoking.
• Exercise regularly.
• Stay hydrated.

Risk Factors of gout

You’re more likely to develop gout if you have high levels of uric acid in your body. Factors that increase the uric acid level in your body include:

• Age and sex
• Family history of gout
• Diet. Eating a diet rich in red meat and shellfish and drinking beverages sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose) increase levels of uric acid, which increase your risk of gout. Alcohol consumption, especially of beer, also increases the risk of gout.
• Weight. If you’re overweight, your body produces more uric acid and your kidneys have a more difficult time eliminating uric acid.
• Medical conditions. Certain diseases and conditions increase your risk of gout. These include untreated high blood pressure and chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and heart and kidney diseases.

Treatment of Gout

Gout drugs are divided into two categories, each of which addresses a different issue. The first type helps to relieve the pain and inflammation associated with gout attacks. The second type reduces the amount of uric acid in your blood, which helps to prevent gout problems.

The frequency and intensity of your symptoms, as well as any other health issues you may have, will determine which drug is best for you.

Lifestyle and home remedies

Medications are often the most effective way to treat gout attacks and prevent recurrent symptom flares. However, lifestyle choices also are important, and you may want to:

• Make healthier beverage choices. Drinks sweetened with fruit sugar and alcoholic beverages should be avoided (fructose). Instead, consume a large amount of nonalcoholic beverages, particularly water.
• purines are abundant in red meat and organ meats, such as liver. Anchovies, sardines, mussels, scallops, trout, and tuna are examples of purine-rich seafood. For persons who are prone to gout, low-fat dairy products may be a preferable source of protein.
• Lose weight by exercising on a regular basis. Gout is less likely if you maintain a healthy body weight. Low-impact activities that are easier on your joints include walking, bicycling, and swimming.

is gout painful

Yes, gout is a painful condition. In fact, people frequently describe pain in the big toe as one of the initial symptoms. More usual arthritic symptoms, such as swelling and warmth in the joints, accompany the pain.

The severity of gout pain varies. At first, the pain in the big toe might be excruciating. It may diminish to a dull aching after the intense onset.

The discomfort, as well as swelling and other symptoms, are caused by the body’s immune system launching a defense against uric acid crystals in the joints. The release of molecules known as cytokines, which increase severe inflammation, is triggered by this attack.

is gout hereditary?

Gout is caused in part by heredity. SLC2A9 and ABCG2 are two of the thousands of genes linked to gout risk discovered by researchers. The quantity of uric acid the body retains and releases is affected by genes linked to gout.

Gout runs in families due to hereditary causes. People who have a gouty parent, sibling, or other close relative are more prone to develop the disease.

Genes are most likely just a catalyst for gout. Environmental factors, such as food, play a role in the disease’s onset.