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Causes, Symptoms and Cures for Gout

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Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that can affect anyone, especially those who may have high levels of uric acid in their blood. In America, roughly 4% of adults (six million men and two million women) suffer from gout, which can suddenly occur without any warning. Here is an overview of various gout causes, symptoms and cures as well as a look at how to relieve pain related to gout.

Causes

Causes of gout in places such as the knee and toes are often due to genes, certain medical conditions such as diabetes, untreated high blood pressure, heart and kidney disease or an unbalanced diet. What happens is a high level of uric acid is produced in foods such as seafood, sweet beverages and organ meat. This acid is normally dissolved in the blood and then passed through the kidney into the urine, but there are times when either the blood overproduces uric acid or the kidneys excrete too little. When this occurs, urate crystals start to form and then accumulate in joints causing inflammation and often an intense pain.

Because it was associated with rich foods and alcohol, it was once called the "disease of kings". But nowadays it affects women as well. Men may often see signs earlier than women, typically between ages 30-50, while women may not see signs until after menopause which often occurs between the late-40s to mid-50s.

Symptoms

As gout can occur suddenly, it is important to know what symptoms to be on the look for in order to correctly diagnosis it. One of the gout symptoms is a sudden and severe attack of pain in a joint, often located in the large joint of the big toe. The joint will also often swell, be tender to the touch and may feel like the toe is on fire. The attack will eventually peak roughly 12-24 hours after the initial onset and will then eventually resolve and become less painful. It may take one to two weeks to make a full recovery from the gout symptoms without any treatment.

Location

Gout can occur in any joint such as the ankles, knees, wrists, fingers and elbows, but is most common in the first metatarsophalangeal joint, which is in the big toes. Gout that is in the knee has the same symptoms as gout in any other joint, none of which are pleasant but all often appear after some sort of trauma whether that be due to illness or injury. It is not only painful and inflamed but also restricts the range of motion in the joint, especially as gout continues to progress over the following days.

Prevention

While there is no guarantee that gout won't affect you, there are a few preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the chances. It is important to stay hydrated but make sure to avoid consuming too many sweet beverages and alcohol. Also, limit the amount of meat, fish and poultry intake in your diet and find alternative protein, such as low-fat dairy products and legumes. Attaining and then maintaining a healthy body weight through a healthy diet and regular exercise is vital as obesity and an increase in fat distribution greatly increases your chances of gout. This unfortunately can't be treated by ice or heat, but one of the easiest ways to stop the pain of gout is by going to your doctor and being prescribed medicine.

Medical Treatment

Visit your doctor if you feel like you are having a gout attack, especially if you have a fever and the joint is extremely warm and inflamed. These may be signs that there is an infection that should be addressed right away. The doctor often will run various tests such as joint fluid tests, blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds or possibly a dual energy CT scan. Once they have the results, they will be able to accurately diagnose your pain and prescribe the correct prescriptions to help relieve the pain. The goal of the treatment is often to suppress the inflammation and reduce pain, but to fully avoid having to deal with gout symptoms and remedies, it is best to incorporate a healthy balance of diet and exercise.