Today we will talk about the signs and treatment of gout, the causes of its occurrence, and of course, about diet as an important element in the treatment of the disease.
Gout - what is this disease and why does it occur? Gout is a kidney and joint disease that occurs due to protein imbalance in the body. At the same time, the amount of uric acid in the human blood increases significantly.
Gout (the manifestations of which can be seen in the photo) is often called the “ rich man’s disease ”, since once upon a time this serious disease mainly affected monarchs and rich people who consumed red wine and meat in large quantities.
More often, the disease develops after 40 years of age; men are 4 times more susceptible to the disease than women. If a woman does develop gout, this happens already during menopause, since estrogens produced at a younger childbearing age successfully protect against this.
In addition to damage to the kidneys and joints, nodules with uric acid salts can form in the skin itself, so-called tophi . They are usually yellowish in color, located on the legs, in the ear area, on the elbows, shins, and can appear on the forehead, near the entrance to the nasal passages. At a certain stage of their development, they burst, whitish salt crystals become visible, all this is accompanied by intense pain and inflammatory reactions.
When too much uric acid is produced, it crystallizes and deposits on the walls of joints and internal organs. Later, an infection attaches to these crystals and an inflammatory process occurs.
If it is not detected and stopped in time, the patient’s condition will worsen significantly, and the effectiveness of treatment will be delayed indefinitely.
Doctors distinguish three main types of gout:
If treatment for this dangerous disease is not started in time, it will quickly invade new areas of the joints, which will adversely affect the patient’s health and will also delay the process of his full recovery.
Small joints are most often affected, especially the toes; many even call the disease gout on the legs, but sore hands, elbows, and knees also occur.
This disease can also become chronic. To prevent this, you need to know about the stages of development of gout in order to consult a doctor in time and prevent its progression.
As already mentioned, the main causes of this disease are considered to be an excessive amount of uric acid (urate salts) in the body, as well as its incomplete elimination from the body due to impaired renal function.
People at risk for gout include people who:
Also at risk are those people whose blood relatives have suffered or are currently susceptible to this disease.
The symptoms of gout directly depend on its type. There are two forms - acute and chronic.
Signs of acute gout - an attack - appear immediately after damage to the joints or kidneys. They are quite pronounced, so the patient will pay attention to them in any case:
The first attack of gout lasts an average of a week; regular painkillers may not work.
The chronic form of gout can manifest itself even several years after the first “bell”. Therefore, it is better to start treatment for gout immediately, rather than wait until it affects not only the joints (gouty arthritis), but also the kidneys. Urolithiasis often develops after inflamed joints.
Over time, exacerbations of gout in men become more frequent.
So how to treat gout? This process includes two main steps.
The first is aimed at getting rid of primary symptoms, acute pain and improving metabolism in the body. It involves following a certain diet.
It is impossible to talk about any general methods of treating this disease, since the doctor prescribes a course of therapy based on the collected medical history, tests performed, the stage of development of the disease, the individual characteristics of the patient’s body, concomitant diseases and the severity of the disease.
Among the drugs used for gout are allopurinol (to reduce the level of uric acid), blemarene, colchicine (to relieve acute attacks of the disease), urisan, Celebrex.
Most often, as part of the conservative treatment of gout, blocks of the spine and other painful joints are given, intra-articular injections that relieve inflammation, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are prescribed for a couple of weeks - diclofenac, nurofen, methindole, indomethacin, ibuprofen.
Physiotherapeutic procedures (magnetic therapy, electrophoresis) and shock wave therapy to break up calcified salt deposits are recommended by a rheumatologist
Sanatorium treatment helps a lot, especially in Caucasian Mineral Waters and Truskavets.
There is an opinion that a complete cure for gout can only be achieved through surgery. It's a delusion. It can be cured with the help of special medications and adherence to a diet - special diet No. 6 .
In case of exacerbation of gout, treatment at home involves bed rest for several days with the foot end of the bed slightly elevated.
For severe joint pain, cold compresses and painkillers are recommended. Then you can smear the affected areas with Vishnevsky ointment and make applications with dimexide.
Be sure to consume a lot of liquids, preferably alkaline ones - mineral water such as Essentuki, Borjomi, Narzan, oat decoction, jelly.
You may also need specially designed gymnastics for the joints and taking diuretics to remove excess fluid containing uric acid from the human body naturally.
Among the folk remedies for removing uric acid and reducing the inflammatory signs of gout, we recommend the grass of knotweed or knotweed and horsetail, lingonberry leaf infusion, and nettle juice.
Apitherapists advise rubbing sore spots with tincture of dead bees (the tincture is prepared at the rate of 1 part dead bees, 4 parts vodka, leave for 2 weeks).
Baths with chamomile, sage leaves, and a decoction of oat straw are quite effective. The bath lasts 20-30 minutes, adding hot water. The course requires 20 baths, but if the process is neglected, after a 2-week break the hot water procedures will need to be repeated.
Nutrition for gout: which foods should be included in the diet first of all, and what should be excluded and limited?
To get rid of the symptoms of the disease, you must adhere to the following dietary rules:
More details about the diet for gout, the so-called diet No. 6 - HERE.
Therapeutic fasting can cause another attack, releasing uric acid into the blood, so traditional doctors do not recommend it. Although, as alternative practices answer them, after this exacerbation there is a general improvement in the condition. So this method is only for those who are persistent and seriously determined to be cured.
To prevent problems with joints and exacerbations of gout from becoming a frequent occurrence in the future, try to stick to a daily routine and perform physical exercise every 2 hours, especially if you have a sedentary job.
It is worth paying attention to the shoes you wear; if they are too tight, the big toe will become increasingly injured, which means repeated attacks of the disease will occur.
Teach this to your children from childhood, because it is very easy to acquire a disease, but sometimes it is very difficult to get rid of it, and sometimes even impossible.
Gout is a metabolic disease in which uric acid salts (known as urate) are deposited in the joints. Gout, otherwise known as the “disease of kings”, is an ancient disease that was known back in the time of Hippocrates. Now gout is considered a rare disease, affecting 3 people out of 1000. And most often it affects men over the age of 40; in women it most often appears after menopause. Gout itself is one of the types of joint diseases, the cause of which is salt deposition.
Gout affects all joints, from the joints of the fingers to the joints of the toes.
It was known back in the time of Hippocrates and is called the “disease of kings” due to the fact that the main source of its occurrence is excess in food and alcoholic beverages. Gout is often chronic.
Gout is caused by elevated and persistent levels of uric acid in the blood. During the course of the disease, urate crystals (a derivative of uric acid) are deposited in joints, organs and other body systems. Sodium urate crystallizes and is deposited in small particles in the joints, which ultimately leads to partial or complete destruction of the joint. For the same reason, such situations are called microcrystalline.
There can be a large amount of uric acid in the body for two reasons: the first reason is when healthy kidneys are unable to remove unusually large amounts of uric acid, the second reason is when uric acid is released in normal quantities, but the kidneys are unable to remove it.
Every year there are more and more people suffering from gout. Doctors explain this phenomenon by the fact that in recent years people have increasingly consumed foods rich in purines (for example, meat, fatty fish) and huge amounts of alcohol. This is confirmed by the fact that during the wars, the percentage of people with gout decreased sharply due to the fact that meat products, and especially alcohol, were very difficult to get.
A symptom of gout is a common attack of gouty arthritis - this is, as a rule, inflammation of one joint, most often it is the joint of the big toe, knee or ankle. Typically, an attack of gout occurs in the early morning or at night; it manifests itself in the form of unexpected severe pressing pain in one or another joint, the affected joint swells, the temperature in the joint area rises, the skin turns red and begins to become shiny. Usually during the day the pain becomes a little less, but by night it intensifies again; the duration of a gout attack lasts from two to three days to a week, sometimes more. With a repeated attack, other joints may become involved in such inflammation, which can lead to partial destruction of the joint.
Signs of gout are the appearance of peculiar growths on the hands or feet, and the level of uric acid is significantly elevated. When the growths, otherwise known as tophi, burst, a person may see whitish crystals of uric acid. The patient may feel quite intense pain in the affected areas. Such salt deposits in the joints make it difficult to lead a full life.
The main and most severe complication of gout is the appearance of gouty arthritis; it is also possible that urolithiasis occurs, in which the stones formed consist of urate or crystallized uric acid.
Gout nodes, also called “tophi”, are nothing more than conglomerates of sodium urate crystals, which have the ability to be deposited in all parts of the body. And in cases where such deposits get stuck in the joints or periarticular tissues, an immune reaction occurs, since these deposits are perceived by the body as a foreign body, which causes the accumulation of leukocytes and severe inflammation, which is called gouty arthritis.
It is worth paying special attention to the fact that kidney stones caused by gout can become the main cause of kidney failure and can ultimately lead to death.
You can tell about the onset of gout by sudden pain in the joint. They are accompanied by severe redness, swelling and heat. Not only the affected area can “burn,” but also areas of the body in the immediate vicinity. In this case, body temperature can rise to 39-40 degrees. Symptoms in most cases develop within an hour. Most often, the big toe suffers from this. Regular painkillers such as aspirin will not help.
The pain usually begins at night and becomes almost unbearable. In the daytime, some improvement is often observed, the pain subsides, but you should not think that everything has passed. Such acute symptoms can torment the patient for about a week.
Gout is a chronic disease. It is almost impossible to cure it completely. This disease most often manifests itself on the legs. After the onset of the disease, symptoms may recur again after six months or a year. The disease may go into a dormant state, but, without any doubt, it will make itself felt. With each attack, the time between them will decrease. Gout will return to a person more and more often.
Damaged areas on the legs often become more and more destroyed, and the disease can also affect neighboring joints. With a long-term illness, over time, peculiar bumps may appear under the skin on the affected areas, which are called “gout nodes” or “tophi.”
This happens due to the fact that the body begins to perceive large salt deposits in the joints of the legs as a foreign body, the immune system inevitably begins to react - accumulate leukocytes, after which severe inflammation begins. Sometimes tophi burst and release whitish dust - uric acid crystals.
Gout often develops in old age. In men it occurs much more often and at an earlier age. The male population is susceptible to this disease by the age of 40. It should be noted that women begin to suffer from gout closer to 55, mainly after menopause, when the amount of estrogens, female hormones, in the body sharply decreases. Children and young men are practically not susceptible to gout. There are rare exceptions, in cases of hereditary disorders of uric acid metabolism.
This disease severely disrupts metabolism. Purines enter the human body with food, but are also produced by the human body. Purines are then broken down into uric acid, which is excreted by the kidneys. In people with gout, the content of this uric acid is significantly higher than normal. Excess uric acid is deposited in tissues where there is no blood supply. It is easiest for crystals to gain a foothold there.
Joints, cartilage and tendons are most susceptible to this. As a result of this disease, not only these places, but also the kidneys suffer. Most often, with gout, urolithiasis develops; with a lesser likelihood, the patient may suffer from renal colic.
This can happen for two reasons: if too much uric acid is produced and the kidneys cannot cope with the amount of excretion, so it has to be deposited in the human body. And the second reason is when the amount of uric acid is normal, but the kidneys cannot remove it.
However, high levels of uric acid in the body are not the only cause of gout. Several other factors also play a decisive role: overeating, fatty foods, excess weight, sedentary lifestyle and hereditary predisposition.
Even if you follow the recommendations, an acute attack will not go away instantly. But this will significantly reduce the time during which the disease will torment a person. Mainly you need to observe strict bed rest. It is best to keep sore limbs in an elevated position, for example, by placing a pillow under them.
In case of unbearable pain, you can apply ice. After which it is advisable to apply a compress to the sore spot with Vishnevsky ointment or dimexide. It is better to limit your food intake greatly; you can consume liquid porridges and vegetable broths. You should drink as many alkaline drinks as possible, for example, oat decoction, jelly, milk, mineral water or plain water, but with the addition of lemon juice (lemon juice dissolves uric acid deposits in rheumatism and gout). You need to drink at least 3 liters per day (in the absence of kidney disease).
Any painkillers will not help. You can take modern anti-inflammatory drugs that do not contain steroids. If you have taken any preventative medications prescribed by your doctor, you should continue taking them.
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Most often, gout appears in places where the joint has been injured. Therefore, treat such places with caution. You should not wear narrow and uncomfortable shoes, as they can seriously damage the big toe, which gout loves so much. Diet and a balanced diet are mainly used to prevent gout attacks.
Your lifestyle will have to be completely reconsidered and made healthy. You should reconsider your taste preferences. Diet No. 6 is recommended, which helps reduce uric acid and urates in the body. Products containing purine bases, the main source of urates, are strictly limited, or even completely excluded. But milk, cheese, eggs, vegetables, fruits and cereals that are poor in purines and therefore allowed will not leave you hungry. The patient's diet should contain whole grains, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy products.
In food, you should limit your intake of meat, fish, caviar, mushrooms, and legumes. In addition, you need to limit your consumption of: smoked meats, pickles, anchovies, cauliflower, asparagus, sorrel, chocolate. Such a diet will normalize body weight and significantly reduce the load on the joints during an exacerbation of gout.
You can find detailed information about what you can and cannot eat, as well as other features, here
Alcohol and smoking inhibit the removal of uric acid from the body. Consequently, its crystals are deposited more in the joints. For prevention, you should completely eliminate alcohol, especially beer, and also quit smoking. Drinking tea, coffee, cocoa is not recommended. In addition to the diet, it is worth doing a fasting day at least once a week with the use of a mono-product.
Small joints are primarily affected. Therefore, it is worth paying special attention to the development of their mobility. Attention should be concentrated on those areas where there are attacks of pain. It is worth doing gymnastics for your joints every day. At first, this will be unusual, because it is increasingly difficult for the joints to be mobile due to deposits. It is recommended to spend more time outdoors and take walks.
Mineral waters are excellent for removing unnecessary purines from the body. Give preference to alkaline and organic waters. These include primarily Narzan, Essentuki and Borjomi. Remember that any liquids should be consumed at least 2.5 liters per day.
A diagnosis of gout means that a person will have to significantly change their lifestyle and constantly take medications, because, unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve a complete cure for this disease. However, timely treatment can bring gout under control, reduce painful attacks to a minimum and protect against severe complications.
The main principle of gout treatment is to control the level of uric acid in the body. For drug treatment, you should consult a rheumatologist. His prescriptions will be aimed at reducing the volume of uric acid and eliminating it from the body as quickly as possible. Only a qualified specialist can prescribe medications that, given possible concomitant diseases, will not cause the greatest harm to health.
Most often, doctors prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as methindole, diclofenac, butadione, indomethacin, naproxen, for 1-2 weeks. To quickly reduce the concentration of uric acid in the body, allopurinol, orotic acid, thiopurinol, hepatocatazal, and milurite can be prescribed. To relieve acute signs of gout, doctors recommend taking colchicine.
Drug therapy for gout is aimed at solving two main problems:
Reducing the level of uric acid in the patient’s body;
Relief of acute inflammatory process and pain relief.
The sooner the patient undergoes examination, reconsiders his habits and begins treatment, the greater the likelihood of achieving stable remission. Without adequate therapy, gout progresses quickly, especially in mature and elderly patients, so it is in no case possible to reason on the principle of “it catches it and lets it go.”
Since the root cause of gout is precisely excess uric acid, solving this problem in 90% of cases leads to the cessation of attacks of excruciating pain and allows you to count on a comfortable life in the future.
The following medications are used to reduce uric acid levels in the body:
Allopurinol is a synthetic analogue of hypoxanthine. This substance inhibits the activity of the enzyme xanthine oxidase, which is responsible for the transformation of human hypoxanthine into xanthine, and then xanthine into uric acid. Thus, Allopurinol reduces the concentration of uric acid and its salts in all environments of the body, including blood, plasma, lymph and urine, and also promotes the gradual dissolution of already accumulated urate deposits in the kidneys, soft tissues and joints. However, this drug has a number of serious side effects and greatly increases the urinary excretion of xanthine and hypoxanthine, so Allopurinol is contraindicated in patients with severe renal failure. However, for most gout patients it remains the first-line drug to this day. Cost: 80-100 rubles per package of 30-50 tablets;
Febuxostat (Uloric, Adenuric) is a selective xanthine oxidase inhibitor, which, unlike Allopurinol, does not affect other purine and pyramidine enzymes of the human body, moreover, it is excreted not by the kidneys, but by the liver. Febuxostat is a relatively new drug for the treatment of gout; it is not produced in Russia, but in Western Europe and the USA it has undergone numerous clinical trials and shown excellent results. Within three months, Febuxostat completely dissolves accumulations of uric acid salt crystals in the fingers and elbows and effectively prevents their re-formation. Can be used by patients with concomitant renal pathologies. The drug is not cheap - on average from 4,500 to 7,000 thousand rubles, depending on the country of origin;
Pegloticase (Krystexxa) is an infusion solution of enzymes that quickly dissolve urate crystals (deposits of uric acid salts). It is used intravenously twice a month to stabilize the condition of patients with severe gout who do not respond to traditional medications. Anaphylactic shock is possible during the procedure. This is a very expensive drug, which is produced exclusively abroad and sold to order;
Probenecid (Santuril, Benemid) is a drug that prevents the reabsorption of uric acid in the renal tubules and increases its excretion in the urine. Probenecid was originally used in complex antibacterial therapy to reduce the damage caused to the kidneys by antibiotics. But then they began to prescribe it for chronic gout and hyperuricemia (increased levels of uric acid in the blood). It is important to understand that Probenecid enhances the excretion of uric acid, and does not suppress its synthesis. Therefore, treatment of gout with this drug is advisable only at the stage of remission. If you prescribe Probenecid to a patient with an acute inflammatory process, this will lead to the active dissolution of already accumulated urates, an increase in the level of uric acid in the plasma, and, as a result, to attacks of excruciating pain. To avoid this risk, the first months of gout treatment with Probenecid are accompanied by additional hormonal and anti-inflammatory therapy. The drug costs from 3,500 to 7,500 rubles.
Symptomatic treatment of gout consists of relieving attacks, relieving swelling and pain, and is performed using the following drugs:
Colchicine (Colchicum, Colhimine) is an alkaloid isolated from poisonous plants of the melanthium family. The most common source of colchicine is the autumn crocus. Colchicine inhibits the formation of leukotriene, stops cell division of granulocytes, prevents the movement of leukocytes to the site of inflammation and prevents urates (uric acid salts) from crystallizing in tissues. This drug acts as an emergency treatment and is recommended for use in the first twelve hours after the onset of an acute attack of gout. You need to take two tablets of Colchicine at once, an hour later - another, and then one tablet three times a day for a week. The drug very often causes undesirable reactions from the gastrointestinal tract - nausea, vomiting, loose stools. The average price of Colchicine in pharmacies is from 1000 to 2000 rubles;
Glucocorticoids (Cortisone, Hydrocortisone, Prednisone, Prednisolone) are synthetic analogues of human corticosteroids, that is, hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. Drugs in this group break the chain of natural reactions of the body to the intervention of allergens, chemicals, bacteria, viruses and other foreign elements. Glucocorticoids quickly relieve inflammation, but suppress the immune system, so hormonal treatment of gout is advisable only when the expected benefit outweighs the potential risk. The cost of synthetic steroid hormones varies from 30 rubles (the oldest drug is Prednisolone) to 1,500 rubles (Cortisone);
NSAIDs (Aspirin, Analgin, Diclofenac, Ibuprofen) - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are so called in order to emphasize their difference from hormones. However, the action of medications in this group is partly similar to the action of glucocorticoids. NSAIDs are non-selective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase, an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of thromboxane and prostaglandins. Thus, these drugs also suppress inflammation, but, unlike synthetic corticosteroids, they do so more slowly and are not immunosuppressants. For the symptomatic treatment of gout, Diclofenac and Ibuprofen are most often used, the average cost is 10-30 rubles, the price of the popular generic (a drug with the same active ingredient) Nurofen can reach 150 rubles.
To minimize the risk of new gout attacks, follow a few simple rules:
If possible, do not subject the sore joint to any stress, periodically fix it in an elevated position and apply ice for 15-30 minutes 2-3 times a day until the pain subsides;
Do not overuse aspirin, which can cause spikes in uric acid levels in the blood and worsen gout symptoms;
Regularly measure your uric acid level – it should not exceed 60 mg/l;
Every day, devote at least half an hour to physical education: walk, ride a bike, jog, dance, swim. Be sure to do exercises in the morning. Regardless of age and weight, patients with gout should give themselves feasible physical activity every day - sports are more effective against gout than any medicine;
Drink at least two liters of clean water per day. In order for the kidneys to remove uric acid from the body, they first need clean water. Without enough water, even healthy kidneys cannot cope with cleansing the body;
Get a blood test to determine your levels of essential minerals and vitamins, and if necessary, supplement your diet with a good vitamin and mineral complex. It is especially important for gout patients to provide themselves with vitamin C;
Do not drink carbonated drinks with sodium benzoate and powdered juices with fructose, completely avoid alcohol;
Review your diet in favor of vegetables, fruits and cereals, consume no more than 120 grams of animal protein per day, avoid offal and fatty sausages.
On the subject: For gout pain, you can also see popular folk remedies
According to recent data, obesity, caused by excessive consumption of fatty foods of animal origin, most strongly predisposes to gout. Fans of sausages, sausages, bacon and hamburgers are at risk. It is the excess of proteins that leads to excess uric acid, and excess weight creates increased stress on the joints and, thereby, accelerates the development of the inflammatory process.
American scientists have also established a direct connection between calcium and ascorbic acid deficiency and the development of gout. With age, even those people who lead a healthy lifestyle and do not complain about being overweight begin to lack these essential substances for the body. Therefore, after forty years, it is necessary to be examined annually and take multivitamins prescribed by your doctor.
Recently, a new drug has been developed that suppresses the synthesis of uric acid - benzobromarone. Active clinical trials of this medicine are currently underway, and in some Western countries it has already been approved and put on stream. But before the new product settles on the domestic pharmaceutical market, it will probably take a long time.
It is also known about the experimental development of new non-hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs that act directly on the protein interleukin, which provokes gouty inflammation of joints and tissues. But it is difficult to name the exact timing of the appearance of these medicines on the public market.
The most popular drug for the treatment of gout, Allopurinol, is increasingly being sharply criticized by modern doctors, since a large number of side effects and complications with its regular use call into question the appropriateness of such therapy. According to statistics, on average, in one out of two hundred and sixty patients with gout, Allopurinol provokes sudden death as a result of renal coma or cardiac arrest.
However, the largest international study of Allopurinol, the results of which were recently published in the scientific journal Annals of the eumatic Diseases, proves the high effectiveness of the drug, moreover, the ability to prevent death. This study certainly does not refute the presence of side effects and high risk for the kidneys, and does not negate the need for new developments. But we have to admit that Allopurinol is still the first-line drug in the treatment of gout, if only because it is well studied, reliable and affordable.
Scientists tracked the fate of 5927 patients who regularly took Allopurinol, and the same number of patients treated for gout with other drugs that lower uric acid levels. It turned out that mortality in the first control group was 19% lower than in the second, and such results persisted throughout the life of the patients. That is, Allopurinol still remains the most effective and safe drug, both for the treatment of acute, newly diagnosed gout, and for maintaining normal well-being in elderly patients with a chronic form of the disease.
Author of the article: Dmitry Sergeevich Volkov, candidate of medical sciences, surgeon
Gout is the name of a form of arthritis called gouty arthritis. With this disease, there are elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. And it is a protein metabolite. When high levels of uric acid are found in the blood, some people experience gout symptoms.
1. Deposition of sharp crystals of this acid may occur in various joints, but often in the big toe.
2. Bumps may form on the joints of the fingers and toes, and on the elbows. These bumps are called tophi and are composed of uric acid deposits.
3. Kidney stones may form.
For many people, gout occurs unexpectedly and most often in the big toe. Often this happens while a person is sleeping, and he wakes up in pain.
The toe becomes red, warm, swollen and very painful.
This condition can affect other joints: the knees, wrists and elbows.
Currently, scientists believe that gout is a metabolic disease, a violation of the excretion of uric acid from the body.
Its appearance is due to the accumulation of large amounts of uric acid in the body.
It is known that uric acid arises as a result of the breakdown of purines. You can read more about these substances in the article “What are purines?”
Once formed, uric acid dissolves in the blood. It passes through the kidneys and is excreted from the body in urine.
But it can accumulate in the blood when:
1) The amount of uric acid in the human body increases.
2) The kidneys cannot cope with its complete removal from the body.
3) A person consumes foods with high levels of purines in them.
The presence of high levels of uric acid in the blood is called hyperuricemia.
However, people with hyperuricemia do not always develop gout.
For the disease to develop, the formation of uric acid crystals in the body is necessary.
Previously, it was believed that this disease more often affects men, and women less often, and only during menopause.
Now this disease has become “younger”.
The occurrence of gout attacks can be associated with many factors, including stress and diet.
A person is most likely to develop gout if:
1) Members of his family had this disease.
2) If you are overweight.
3) For beer and alcohol lovers.
4) With large consumption of foods containing purines, especially meat.
5) If there is a defect in the enzyme that is involved in the metabolism of purines.
6) Presence of lead in the body.
7) When taking certain medications, such as aspirin, diuretics, cyclosporine, levodopa.
How to treat gout?
Some things you can do to stay healthy are:
1. Take medications that your doctor prescribes to you.
2. Follow the schedule of visiting a doctor and taking blood tests to determine lactic acid (how diabetics control blood sugar).
3. Maintain a healthy, balanced diet. Avoid foods high in purines, hydrogenated fats, meats and refined carbohydrates.
4. Drink a lot of water, with this disease water is a medicine, it allows you to remove more uric acid.
5. Exercise regularly and maintain a normal body weight.
6. You need to lose weight safely. Rapid or extreme weight loss can increase uric acid levels in the blood.
7. You cannot observe fasting days.
Scientists are studying different aspects of this disease. And I will talk about them in the following articles.
But they agree that diet is the key factor.
I suggest you watch a short film about gout.
I hope that you will learn a lot of new and interesting things from it.
Take care of yourself, don't get sick.
And be healthy.
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Gout is a kidney disease that affects the joints and impairs their function. It can occur in both women and men. Gout signs and treatment photos in adults can visually assess the scale of the disease’s impact on the body. When treating the disease, traditional medicine is used, which can be combined with folk remedies.
Gout is a kidney disease in which uric acid salts accumulate in the joints. Not only large but also small joints are affected by the disease. Gout often develops on the bones of the feet. Due to the large accumulation of salt, the integrity of the bone tissue is damaged.
Salts can also accumulate in the skin, causing characteristic nodules to form. The absence or ineffective treatment of gout leads to the development of urolithiasis, which can become chronic.
The question of what gout is can be answered more accurately after familiarizing yourself with the main reasons for its development. The disease develops in two cases:
What is gout and what does it look like? Photo , which allows you to visually familiarize yourself with the stages of development and consequences of the disease.
People with unstable blood pressure, kidney failure, diabetes mellitus, excess weight, and gastrointestinal dysfunction are at risk for the disease.
The development of the disease is facilitated by poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, and abuse of bad habits.
The symptoms of gout are almost the same in both women and men . The manifestation of the disease is arthritis and nodules - tophi, which form under the skin and consist of uric acid.
The main signs of the disease are:
Attacks of arthritis become more active in the evening and continue at night, and in the morning the pain subsides. Redness and glossiness of the skin is observed in the affected area.
If left untreated, gout becomes chronic, which is accompanied by the development of complications such as urolithiasis, cystitis, kidney failure, severe pain and joint destruction. In some situations, neoplasms on the joints can damage the integrity of the skin and come out.
The appearance of an inflammatory process in one area requires immediate treatment, as the disease can spread to other areas.
Several methods are used to treat gout: medication , traditional methods, surgery, and following the rules of a healthy lifestyle.
At home, you can use herbal baths, compresses, ointments , monitor your diet, weight, exercise, and give up bad habits.
An attack of gouty arthritis can be localized using herbal baths. To prepare them, you can use chamomile, sage, and juniper. The prepared raw materials must be poured with boiling water in a ratio of 100g:10l and left to steep. The duration of the procedure is half an hour.
relieve inflammation and relieve pain in your arms and legs with the help of compresses. Combine 5 tablets of aspirin with 10 ml of iodine The product should be applied to the feet and placed in a warm place. Manipulation is recommended to be carried out 2 times a day.
Treatment of gout during exacerbation involves the use of ointments. They contain butter and alcohol. The components must be combined in a 1:1 ratio and the alcohol should be evaporated by ignition. The resulting mixture should be used to treat damaged areas of the body. The product must be stored in a warm, cool place.
Folk remedies for the treatment of gout can be used individually and in combination with traditional medicine. They help relieve inflammation, swelling, and relieve pain.
The simplest and most effective treatment at home is to use rubbing. To prepare it, combine butter and hop cones. The finished mixture needs to be steamed, then rubbed on the inflamed joints.
For rubbing, you can use tincture of chamomile and elderberry . Dry plants are poured with a glass of boiling water and left for 2 hours. The filtered product should be applied to the affected areas.
To activate the removal of uric acid from the body, it is necessary to consume decoctions of strawberries, celery, and birch sap .
Strawberries can be consumed raw, as well as compotes and decoctions. Birch sap has a beneficial effect on kidney function; it is recommended to drink 1 glass three times a day.
Freshly prepared celery root juice also has a beneficial effect on the kidneys and joints . It should be drunk 2 spoons 3 hours before meals.
To relieve the symptoms of the disease, herbal baths of chamomile, currants, nettles, and pine branches .
More detailed instructions for the preparation and use of folk remedies can be viewed in the video.
When treating gout and as a preventive measure, it is recommended to follow the rules of a balanced diet. Food must be consumed in small portions at least 4 times a day. It is also necessary to monitor the consumption of the required volume of water, which is 1.5 liters, and during an exacerbation, 3 liters.
daily diet, you should contact a specialist who, taking into account the stage of development of the disease and the presence of chronic pathologies, will develop a table of acceptable and prohibited foods.
It is recommended to include in the daily menu:
It is recommended to avoid consumption:
Adhering to such a diet can normalize kidney function, prevent the accumulation of uric acid salts, get rid of extra pounds, and improve overall well-being and performance.
By following nutritional recommendations, the level of uric acid is normalized, the intensity of pain is reduced, swelling is eliminated, and the patient’s well-being improves.
When treating and preventing gout, you must follow the rules of eating and preparing food:
A properly composed daily menu helps to activate the recovery process after drug treatment.
The most common method of creating a diet is the Pevzner diet.
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A disease such as gout has been known to mankind since ancient times. The first written mention of it was made by the famous Hippocrates more than 2400 years ago. At the same time, the relationship between a person’s diet and his predisposition to the appearance of this disease was also revealed. The nature of gout was finally discovered in the 18th century, and since then patients have had the opportunity to nip this disease in the bud or significantly alleviate its course.
Gout is a disease that occurs against the background of metabolic disorders (namely purine bases such as guanine, adenine, hypoxanthine and xanthine). This causes an excess of uric acid in the body, due to which its salts begin to be deposited in the joints, actively destroying them. This disease affects all joints (fingers, cysts, feet, elbows, knees), however, gout most often occurs on the legs.
The main causes of gout are a constant elevated level of uric acid in the body due to an unbalanced diet and alcohol abuse or serious problems with the kidneys, which is why, even with a normal diet, all uric acid is not eliminated from the body naturally.
Typically, the first reason is the most common, and the number of people with gout increases every year. Doctors have a simple explanation for this: it’s all due to the fact that in recent years, purine-rich foods such as meat or fatty fish have become much more accessible, and the level of alcohol consumption per capita has increased significantly. Therefore, the number of patients with fatal changes in metabolism is steadily increasing.
Given the nature of this disease, the symptoms of gout can be quite varied. Most often, gout manifests itself in the form of a sudden, severe “gnawing” pain, which is localized mainly in the metatarsophalangeal joint or in the knee, interphalangeal, elbow or ankle joints. The affected area swells and turns purple-bluish, and any touch to the joint, even the slightest, greatly increases the patient’s suffering. This condition lasts for several days, after which improvement occurs.
Another manifestation of the disease is the growth of gouty nodes or so-called tophi. In this case, uric acid crystals are deposited on the joints of the hands, feet and elbows, taking the form of dense growths or nodules.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that gout is a disease associated with a systemic metabolic disorder, so symptoms such as heartburn, nausea, difficulty breathing, decreased sense of taste or complete loss of appetite may occur.
During an exacerbation, it is very important to begin competent drug treatment for gout . In this case, the doctor assesses the patient’s condition and chooses therapy taking into account the severity of the disease and the patient’s health condition. The most effective treatment for gout currently is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroid hormones. They can be prescribed in the form of injections or tablets and quickly relieve painful symptoms. In addition, medications are also prescribed that promote the rapid elimination of uric acid, as well as reduce its production in the body. It should be noted that most of the drugs are strictly prescription and require extremely careful handling.
If the disease has not yet become acute, you can try treating gout at home . The most popular and effective remedy used for these purposes is regular medicinal chamomile. A decoction from it should be taken orally and made into baths for affected joints. Also, a very good effect is obtained by using decoctions of chamomile and black elderberry flowers in equal parts and decoctions of string and stinging nettle. All these herbs are easy to find in the pharmacy, and all the necessary proportions are indicated on the packages.
In fact, no special diet is required for gout . All you need is to exclude from your diet (or minimize) foods such as:
Nutrition for gout should be as varied and balanced as possible, so the patient’s diet should include cereals, potatoes, as well as fresh berries, vegetables and fruits.
Preventing gout does not require any special actions. The patient is only required to monitor his diet and adjust his weight. However, there is an important detail: the patient needs to drink up to 3 liters of liquid per day (it is better if it is plain water). Saturation of tissues with water improves the excretion of uric acid, accordingly, reducing its concentration in the body, while dehydration, on the contrary, can cause exacerbation of gout .
And, although the appearance of this disease is considered by many to be a real disaster, at the moment medicine allows people with gout to lead a completely fulfilling lifestyle. By consuming safe foods for gout, you can significantly improve your well-being and practically eliminate the risk of exacerbations. And if the disease has already caused complications in the form of growths or joint deformities, this can be easily dealt with with the help of simple surgical intervention.
Dmitry Prokofiev specially for the Moloditsa.rf website