Gout is a chronic disease caused by an excess of uric acid in the blood, known as hyperuricaemia. Microcrystals of uric acid can then deposit in the joints and surrounding tissues, creating inflammation or inflammatory arthropathy. Those are gout causes.
Gout is manifested by the occurrence of inflammatory joint flare-ups called “gout attacks”. It is one of the microcrystalline arthropathies, also known as microcrystalline rheumatism.
Gout Causes
Gout is a type of arthritis that mainly affects men between the ages of 50 and 60 and in particular those from a family of ‘gout sufferers’ (who tend to produce a lot of uric acid).[1] People who suffer from gout are often prone to attacks of renal colic. Gout causes are diverse. Obesity and overeating are part of gout causes and make the disease worse.[2]
Other conditions can also cause a gout attack, particularly in women after the menopause: kidney failure, high blood pressure, thyroid disorders, psoriasis, alcoholism, etc. Medications (e.g. some diuretics) can cause high uric acid levels and need to be monitored regularly to make a gout diagnosis.[3]
There are many risk factors for gout. They may be genetic, age-related, related to dietary and/or sedentary behaviour, or even related to another disease or the use of certain medications.
Genetic predisposition, age and sex of the person
Gout may run in families. Gout is then due to a defect in the elimination of uric acid (90% of cases) linked to genetic mutations.
Before the age of 65, gout is four times more common in men than in women and three times more common after the age of 65.
However, in the last 20 years, the incidence of gout has doubled in women. In general, gout starts 10 years later in women than in men and occurs after the menopause. However, women with an early menopause (before the age of 45) may develop gout at a younger age.
Abnormally high blood levels of uric acid
Gout is a disease in which a deposit of uric acid crystals builds up in the joints, due to high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricaemia). The accumulation of crystals causes painful inflammatory attacks (flares) in and around the joints. Gout is often hereditary.
Abnormally high blood levels of uric acid are the result of:[4]
- decreased elimination of uric acid by the kidneys (most common cause) or the gastrointestinal system
- excessive consumption of purine-rich foods and/or alcohol (usually a more limited factor)
- excessive production of uric acid (rarely)
Inability of the kidneys to remove uric acid
In general, the level of uric acid in the blood is abnormally high when the kidneys are not able to eliminate enough of it in the urine. The cause is usually determined by the person’s genes. Excess uric acid in the blood results in the formation and deposition of uric acid crystals in and around the joints. Things that can impair the ability of the kidneys to remove uric acid also include:[5]
- certain types of kidney disease
- certain medications
- lead poisoning
A “rich man’s disease”
Too much consumption of purine-rich foods (such as liver, kidney, anchovies, asparagus, herring, sauces and meat broths, mushrooms, mussels, sardines, entremets,…) can increase the level of uric acid in the blood.[6] On the other hand, a strict low-purine diet lowers the uric acid level only slightly. In the past, because meat and fish were rarely eaten, gout was considered a “rich man’s disease”.
The combination of a diet high in purines and the consumption of alcohol or especially drinks containing high fructose corn syrup can make the situation worse, as all these drinks can increase the production of uric acid while interfering with its elimination by the kidneys.[7]
Learn more: Special Gout Diet.
Take care!
It is important to recognize early symptoms of gout and chose the good treatments. Gout often occurs in joints that have already been injured. 95% of gout patients have had a previous attack on the big toe, as it is very common for most people to injure this area repeatedly in their lifetime. It’s very probable that previous injuries are what causes gout in feet.[8] Pain and swelling are so strong that people who suffer from gout attack look for an immediate gout pain relief or a 10 minute gout cure.
For unknown reasons, not all people with abnormally high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia) develop gout.[9] Thus, gout should not be diagnosed with a blood test alone.
Here special products for gout: Curcumin and Boswellia.
Warning signs of a gout attack are easy to notice. They are characterized by a moderate pain of a joint with tingling, discomfort, and a limitation of mobility. It is important to recognize this painful diagnosis before it develops. The interest of the recognition of this phase by the patient is to allow him to start early the anti-inflammatory treatment of the gouty attack. Gout often causes sudden, sharp pain in the affected joint, often in the middle of the night. It is not known why it often gets worse in the middle of the night. Many describe the pain of gout as a truly unique form of pain – and that it is completely beyond any other pain they have experienced before. If you think you have early stage gout, we recommend contacting your general practitioner for evaluation, as well as taking blood samples. When a joint is affected by uric acid crystals, it will usually be clearly tender and painful to the touch. This is because the uric acid crystals cause irritation and fluid accumulation within the joint capsule due to inflammatory reactions. As this inflammation worsens, even the slightest touch can cause great pain when you touch the joint. Among other things, light touching of your comforter can cause sleep problems because of the increased sensitivity of the joint. Too many people struggle with chronic pain that destroys daily life – that’s why we encourage you to Share this article on social media, Feel free to like our Facebook page and say, “Yes to more research on chronic pain diagnoses.” In this way, we can make the symptoms associated with this diagnosis more visible and ensure that more people are taken seriously – and thus get the help they need. We also hope that such increased attention can lead to more funding for research into new assessment and treatment methods. In inflammation, joints often become hot to the touch. You may have experienced this in the joints? This is a sign of ongoing and active inflammatory reactions within the joint. The heat often increases with inflammation – which also means that the joint temperature will drop when the inflammation subsides. Relevant measures to reduce this arthritis can be frostbite and anti-inflammatory medications. An inflamed joint does not have the same mobility as a joint without inflammation. This is because inflammatory reactions cause an increase in the accumulation of fluid around the uric acid crystals inside the affected joints. The fluid takes up space inside the joint, preventing the joint from moving in the same way as before. Uric acid crystals can cause severe pain, even with the slightest movement, as the diagnosis worsens. Therefore, it is very important to limit the inflammation in the joint itself. When a joint is inflamed, the color of the skin gradually becomes more and more reddish. This reddish color is caused by the inflammatory reactions that occur when blood vessels dilate. But this only happens in the later stages of the inflammation, because the inflammation must be great enough for the blood vessels to dilate. The color of the skin may change as the inflammation worsens. The redness of the skin often starts out as a light red color, but may gradually develop and darken as the gout worsens – and in the later stages, the color may be almost dark red or reddish-purple. If you have questions about treatment methods and assessment of chronic pain, we recommend you join your local rheumatism association, join an internet support group (we recommend the facebook group “Rheumatism and Chronic Pain – Norway: News, Unit and Research”) And be open with those around you that you sometimes encounter difficulties and that it may temporarily exceed your personality. Gout is perhaps best known for affecting the big toe. Due to the severe inflammatory reactions affecting a joint that has been affected by gout, the joint will swell and become considerably larger than usual. Such swelling of the toe or finger can make wearing or walking almost impossible. As the fluid enters the joint, it presses outward against the soft tissue and skin. As the accumulation of fluid becomes greater and greater, the swelling will increase and also spread outward. Do you feel more tired than usual? Inflammation in the joints – or in the body in general – forces the immune system to work harder, resulting in less energy and a surplus. Particularly prolonged inflammation can drain energy reserves, even for the most active person. Such inflammation, as in the early stages of gout, can linger in the background and gradually erode even the strongest immune system. Therefore, it is important to recognize the symptoms of inflamed joints and gout. Gout is known as to be probably the most painful illnesses in the medical planet and the condition has victimized a large part of individuals of the entire world. Gout is a kind of metabolic arthritis and the condition is caused by the advanced of the crystals deposits in your body. Uric acid is established by the metabolic process of the higher purines which may be accumulated in our body through the foods that people consume during our day to day food habit. The sufferers of the gout can't eliminate the excess the crystals from your body through the urine because the normal individual can and that outcomes in the the crystals build up in your body. Sometimes the reason behind the high the crystals accumulation can be because of the overproduction of the the crystals in the human entire body. Gout is caused by an excess of uric acid in your body. This can cause crystal formation in your body tissues and joints. Gout can cause inflammation of the joints and eventually lead to arthritis. Gout can lead to severe cases. These are when uric acid crystals build up in the joints and cause irreversible damage. Chronic gout can also cause problems with kidney function or kidney stones. Before the condition progresses to this extent, natural remedies for gout should be sought. Some people experience a rise of uric acid but not kidney problems. Gout arthritis can be very painful. It causes rapid joint inflammation, heat, and redness. Gout is nine times more common in men than it is in women. Therefore, natural remedies for gout would be most useful to men. Gout is a condition in which the uric acid level of an individual is high. Risk factors include obesity, high blood pressure, and moderate alcohol intake. Gout can also be caused by certain medications that can increase the body's uric acid level. Leukemia, a disease that causes an increase in uric acid production, is another example. Gout is most common at the joint near the base of your big toe. Gout can also affect the elbow, wrist, finger and knee joints. Gout can cause rapid pain in the affected joints, tenderness and redness, as well as warmth. Sometimes the affected area can become so tender that even the slightest touch can cause severe pain.What are the first signs of having gout?
1. Often occurs acutely in the middle of the night
2. Joint pressure
3. Hot Joints
4. Impaired joint movement
5. Redness of the skin
6. Swollen joints
7. Fatigue
What are the top 10 things that cause gout?
What does the body lack in gout?
Too much consumption of purine-rich foods will increase the level of uric acid in the blood. So a good diet is probably what your body lack when you have gout.Which fruit should not be eaten with gout?
What makes gout worse?
For sure, a diet high in purines and the consumption of alcohol and drinks containing high fructose corn syrup will make the situation worse. Indeed, all these drinks can increase the production of uric acid while interfering with its elimination by the kidneys.Can gout be cured?
It is necessary to reach an adequate level of uric acid in the blood to gradually dissolve the crystals, make the symptoms disappear and prevent irreparable damage to the joints in the long term.
Prevention and treatment of pain is good for patients, but does not address the disorder that causes gout.
To cure gout definitively we will need to dissolve these crystalline accumulations with the appropriate medication, and this is not achieved in days or weeks, but thanks to a treatment well carried out for months and years, depending on each patient. The deposit of uric acid crystals will only be resolved with constant medication, supervised by a physician, and with healthy lifestyle habits.
Hypouricemic treatment is a drug treatment that normalizes uricemia by lowering the amount of uric acid. It favors the dissolution and prevention of the formation of microcrystals in joints or kidneys. This treatment should be continued for as long as possible, and it should be combined with dietary corrections. You should start it when you have gout attacks that recur, if there is gouty arthritis or tophus or if there is renal colic.
To reduce uric acid in the blood, one can either decrease its production or increase its elimination. There are drugs that can block the production of urine acid and drugs that promote elimination of uric acids by the kidneys.
This Hypouricemic therapy aims to lower blood uricemia levels by achieving a level below 60 mg/l (360 Umol/l), and even below 50 mg/l for drops with tophus (300 Umol/l). This number is used as a guideline for increasing daily drug doses. It also represents a target value.
The rapid drop in uric acid can paradoxically cause gout attacks at the beginning of background treatment. This is because it causes the release of microcrystals out of the joint tophus. These attacks are normal and common. These attacks are normal and a sign that the treatment is working. These should not be used to stop the hypouricemic medication, as they could lead to relapse. These temporary inconveniences should be accepted. Treatment to prevent attacks can reduce or eliminate them.
Therefore, it is recommended that you prescribe an anti-crisis treatment, and particularly colchicine, within the first six months of hypouricemic therapy. Sometimes, this may be extended beyond the 6 month period, depending on the advice of your attending physician or rheumatologist.What to know about gout?
What is uric acid?
Why do uric acid crystals accumulate?
What causes gout inflammation?
What to know about chronic gout?
What are the effects of gout arthritis?
What are risk factors for gout?
what parts of thre body does gout affect?
Sources
- Penpaecker, L. & Sandobal L., (2012) – Epidemiology of Gout and Hyperuricemia, Recent Advances in Gout, The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, [online] 49(4), pp.116–127. doi:12.1193/ejcn/51.6.1123.
- Palazzo B., (2019) – Pathological basis of hyperuricemia and gout, Cotchrane Database of Systematic Reviews, [online] (5). doi:12.1002/14651758.cdsr012162.
- Hurel, M. and Keldisho, J. (2008) – Review on diet and its importance for human health, Journal of research in medical sciences, [online] Volume 10, pp.817–892. doi:12.2045/jrms.s276421.
- Luke H., Katman F. (2021) – Current Pharmacological Treatments of Chronic Gout, Gout & Other Crystal Arthropathies, Dalbeth et al., [online] Volume 13, pp.927–942. doi:10.2147/ccid.s286411.
- Petcke, K. and Hausser, P. (2018) – Cannabis-based medicines for chronic neuropathic pain in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, [online] 2020(7). doi:10.1002/14651858.cd012182.pub2., [online] Volume 10, pp.725–792. doi:12.1145/cdsr.s387312.
- Urtel D. (2003), Inflammatory Drug Use in The Elderly; Aging and disease, [online] 7(2), p.123. doi:12.13335/ad.2016.0205.
- Wangakpon T. & Meladi X. (1998) – Immunoinflammatory Nature of Gout and Clinical features of gout
- Rengostami E. (2001) – Natural medicines for chronic pain in adults: Defining the Human Microbiome | HSS Rheumatology, [online] 49(4), pp.1123–1127. doi:8.126/hssr/53.6.123.
- Minnanmide Q. (2014) – Gout Defined, Causes & Treatment Explained: A Comprehensive Review, Journal of Pain Research, vol. 43, pp. 148–159, 12.1015/jpr.2014.05.108.
5 Comments
Alissa
I really enjoyed reading this article about the causes of Gout, thanks to this I can better understand what caused the gout in my feet and I can follow the advice of what foods to avoid for example and thus step by step eliminate the elevated uric acid, with the hope that the Gout will disappear.
Karl
My dad suffers from gout and this article helped me to understand more about that condition. This article has all the information I was looking for. Now i know how to hwlp my dad. thanks!
Gladys
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