Gout (High levels of uric acid)

Gout is a disorder that causes sudden attacks of intense pain, swelling, and redness in your joints or soft tissues. In many cases, the first attacks occur in the joints of the big toe, but gout can affect many other joints. It is one type of inflammatory arthritis. 

Pain is the most dramatic, the most common, and the most noticeable symptom of gout. Other symptoms of acute gout, or a gout attack, may include:

1. Sudden crushing or throbbing pain in one or a few joints (often in the big toe, knee, or ankle) that may last for a few days
2. Sometimes an acute gouty arthritis attack has a sudden onset at nighttime. The big toe joint pain may be so severe that even the weight of bedsheets causes discomfort.
3. Joints that appear swollen and inflamed, with reddish-purple skin that may feel warm

What are the risk factors for gout?

You are more likely to develop gout if you:

• are male
• are post-menopause
• are older than 65 years of age
• have close family members who have had gout
• have high levels of uric acid in your blood

Lifestyle factors that increase your risk of gout include:

• being overweight
• eating a diet that includes a lot of meat, offal and shellfish
• drinking a lot of alcohol, especially beer, port or spirits
• going on a crash diet or fasting

Factors that affect your kidney function can also increase your risk of gout. These factors may include:

• being dehydrated
• taking medicines known as diuretics (medicines that increase water excretion by the kidneys)
• having kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or high levels of cholesterol in the blood

Gout can also affect people with certain types of blood disorders (such as the blood cancers leukaemia and lymphoma) and people receiving treatment for some cancers.

Gout is usually treated without surgery. There are medicines, splints, and compression modalities to help swelling and lessen the gout pain. If your gouthas worn out the joints, or if tendons have been hurt, surgery may be needed.

If gout is not treated, the inflammation can cause damage to joints and tendons. Crystal deposits on tendons can cause the skin to wear down, which can lead to infection. In addition, tendons can tear, which can lead to loss of function.

Talk to a specialist in internal medicine, your favorite rheumatology consultant, Friends of Hermina, about the best treatment plan for uric acid, Friends of Hermina.