What is gout?

Definition

What is gout?

A gout is a form of arthritis that causes redness, swelling, and sudden pain in your joints. Sometimes there are also lay people who call it gout, but this is not entirely correct.

The big toe is the most common part of gout, but it can also affect other joints in the legs, such as the knees, ankles, soles of the feet. Gout also sometimes occurs in the arms, hands, wrists, and elbows. The spine can also be affected even though rarely.

Although this gout can become a chronic disease, this condition can be cured and prevented from recurring. This condition can be managed by reducing several lifestyle factors. Please discuss with your doctor for more information.

How common is gout?

Gout occurs in about 1 in 200 adults. This condition can affect everyone, regardless of age and sex, but men are more likely to experience it than women.

Usually, this gout occurs in the 30-50 year age group in men, while in women more is found in those who have experienced menopause. Meanwhile, teenagers and children are very rare to experience this disease.

Signs & symptoms

What are the symptoms of gout?

In some cases, gout does not show any symptoms at first. Symptoms of gout usually begin to appear when the patient has experienced an acute or chronic condition. The most common symptoms are:

• Joint pain is severe and sudden, which often first occurs in the morning
• Swollen and soft joints
• Reddish joints
• A feeling of heat around the joint

Symptoms of gout usually appear suddenly, are unpredictable, and often occur in the middle of the night. Most symptoms of gout only occur within a few hours for 1-2 days. But in severe cases, pain in the joints can occur in weeks. If you experience these symptoms, gout you have is quite severe.

Meanwhile, there are also those who experience symptoms of gout up to 6-12 months - in different intensities every day. This condition, quite severe, and if you experience it, it is better to immediately see a doctor.

There may be signs and symptoms not mentioned above. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult your doctor.

What are the stages of gout?

There are three stages of gout based on their severity, namely:

1. The first stage. At this stage, uric acid levels have risen in the blood, but no symptoms of gout appear. You may never feel the symptoms of gout. Usually, people who experience this will only feel the symptoms of gout for the first time after he developed kidney stones.
2. The second stage. When entering the second stage, the uric acid levels that are too high have formed crystals that usually occur in the toes. In this stage, you will feel pain and pain in the joint, but this will not last long. After a while, you will experience other symptoms of gout with increasing intensity and frequency.
3. Third phase. In this third stage, symptoms of gout do not go away and uric acid crystals formed do not only attack one joint. In fact, at this stage, there will be lots of these substances that have crystallized under the skin. This condition causes more severe pain and can damage cartilage.

Most people who suffer from this disease only experience one or two stages. Quite rarely people who suffer from gout are found to have reached the third stage because most of the second stage sufferers of symptoms of gout can be handled properly.

When should I see a doctor?

If you experience some of the symptoms mentioned above, check with your doctor immediately to receive immediate treatment. Gout can cause joint damage if left untreated.

If you have a fever and your joints are hot and inflamed, seek medical care because it can be a sign of infection.

Cause

What can be the cause of gout?

So in fact, the cause of gout is the level of the uric acid itself that is too much in the body. Under normal circumstances, these chemicals will be released by the body through urine and feces.

However, in people who experience gout, the amount of uric acid is too much and cannot be treated by the body. In the end, these substances will form crystals and accumulate around the joints, then cause inflammation.

Then what causes high uric acid in the body? The cause of too high uric acid is too often and many foods that contain purine. Purines are a chemical produced naturally by the body but are also contained in several types of food.

When a person consumes foods that contain purines, the body will process them into gout. So, the more you eat foods that contain purines, the higher your risk for gout.

Risk factor

What increases my risk for gout?

Eating too much food containing purine can indeed be the main cause of gout. But there are actually a variety of other risk factors that can make you experience gout.

What are the risk factors for gout?

• Age and gender. Although it is not known why uric acid is more experienced by men than women. Meanwhile, elderly people are also more susceptible to this disease than young adults.
• Family health history. If you have one family member who has gout, then you also have a greater chance of experiencing the same thing. Although this is not the main cause of gout, by knowing your family's health history, you can be more aware of this disease.
• Excessive weight. Having a weight that exceeds normal can increase the risk of developing this disease. People who have a body mass index of more than 25 kg / m 2 must be more alert to get gout.
• Taking certain drugs. Some types of medicines you consume can cause gout to accumulate in the body, for example:

1. Aspirin, this painkiller will increase the risk of gout if taken regularly 1-2 tablets per day.
2. A diuretic drug, which is usually used to treat fluid buildup in the body.
3. Chemotherapy drugs, which are used to treat various cancers.
4. Drugs that can reduce the immune system, such as cyclosporine.

• Medical history, having certain health problems before can increase the chances of developing gout. Health problems that can increase the risk of gout such as

1. Diabetes
2. Impaired kidney function
3. Heart disease
4. Arteriosclerosis, blocked blood vessels
5. Infectious disease
6. High blood pressure

• Implement an unhealthy lifestyle. Eating foods that contain lots of purines, such as meat and seafood will make gout symptoms appear. In addition, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can be a cause of gout.
• Dehydration. If you experience a lack of fluid, then your body will be difficult to remove these acids through urine. This is one of the causes of gout accumulating in the body.
• After surgery or injury. Injuries can be a cause of gout because this condition causes inflammation in the joints first, which then triggers other symptoms of gout.

Diagnosis & medicine

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

How do doctors diagnose gout?

Gout is often misleading because most of the symptoms are almost the same as the symptoms of other diseases. Sometimes, even though the amount of uric acid is high, there are no symptoms of gout. Therefore, if a person is suspected of having gout, then there are several tests that are recommended to be done, namely:

• Joint fluid test. This examination is done by taking swollen joint fluid using a syringe.
• Blood test. This test aims to find out whether the amount of uric acid is high or not in the blood.
• Urine test. In addition to blood tests, these chemicals will be seen in your urine. If it's not normal, then you are very likely to experience gout.
• X-rays with X-rays. People with gout need to do X-rays to see further the causes of inflammation that occur in the joints.
• CT scan. This check can detect where the crystal stack is located, even if it does not cause symptoms.

Can uric acid cure this disease?

There is no gout medicine that can make a person free from this disease forever. Even so, don't worry, gout medicine can be consumed to control and relieve symptoms that appear.

So, if you want to avoid gout attacks in the future, you must obey taking gout medication prescribed by a doctor and undergo healthy living habits.

Symptoms that appear can be treated by taking the following gout medicine:

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat sudden and severe gout attacks. Examples of these types of uric acid drugs are ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and etoricoxib.
• Steroids can be used as an alternative gout medicine other than NSAIDs. This type of drug is available in oral form or injections that can be directly inserted into the joints. Examples are prednisone and methylprednisone.
• Colchicine helps reduce the risk of recurrence. The doctor will prescribe this gout medicine if NSAID is not suitable for you. But in some cases, the side effects of this drug can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps.
• Drugs that control the level of uric acid in the blood such as allopurinol, probenecid, and febuxostat.

What complications might occur if you don't take gout medicine?

If gout sufferers do not take gout medication regularly, the symptoms will be worse. In fact, it is not impossible that this disease causes other health problems, such as:

• Tophi. This condition is characterized by the buildup of crystals below the surface of the skin. Usually, these clots will appear around the toes, knees, fingers, and ears. If it is not handled properly, then tophi will get bigger and bigger.
• Joint damage. If the patient ignores the suggestion to take gout medicine, it is not impossible that the joint will be permanently damaged. This condition increases the risk of injury and health problems in bones and other joints.
• Kidney stones. Crystal buildup does not only occur in the joints. If uric acid is not treated properly, the crystals can accumulate in the kidneys. This will make the kidneys have stones and block the flow of urine to exit.

Abstinence

What should I do if I already have gout (gout)?

Not only do you need to take gout medication regularly, but you also have to comply with various restrictions. Abstinence from uric acid is important to prevent recurrence later.

What are the restrictions for gout sufferers?

Actually, the uric acid abstinence is the main thing is to avoid things that can trigger gout to appear. Then, what are the restrictions on uric acid that must be obeyed?

1. Eating foods high in purines

Purines can actually be found in various foods. But in abstinence from uric acid, you only have to avoid foods high in purines such as innards, meat broths, sausages, ducks, and various types of seafood. Meanwhile, food that must be limited is:

• Meat and chicken can only be 50 grams per day
• Green beans, soybeans, and peanuts that can be consumed as much as 25 grams in one day
• Some types of vegetables, for example, spinach, kale, beans, cauliflower, melinjo leaves, and seeds, each of which can only be eaten as much as 100 grams per day.

Not all food becomes taboo for gout, anyway. There are some foods that are safe to consume, even recommended like foods that are low in fat, fruits that contain vitamin C and potassium, such as apples and bananas that can help you avoid recurring gout.

2. Do not manage your diet properly

Abstinence from another gout that must be considered is managing and regulating your diet well. Not only do a low purine diet, however, you should also avoid foods that contain high fat and sugar. Besides being bad for health, this food makes your weight gain soaring easily.

3. Not drinking enough water

Rarely drinking water is a taboo for further uric acid. You must keep your body properly hydrated by drinking enough water. Try to drink more water, rather than water that has a sweet taste.

4. Do not exercise regularly

Silence alone at home or lazing in the room is one of the restrictions of gout that you must obey if you do not want to relapse. Exercising regularly can make you keep your body weight ideal. The more you gain weight from laziness to move, the more frequent gout attacks you can experience later on. All abstinence of uric acid is important for you to do if you do not want to feel pain and pain in the joints. However, it could be that even if you obey uric acid restrictions, symptoms can appear later. If this happens, then do the following ways to overcome it: Lift the limbs that are affected by gout to reduce swelling Give ice compresses to inflamed joints for about 20 minutes Repeat as often as needed but make sure the temperature of the compressed part has returned to normal before repeating it again. If you have questions, please consult with your doctor to better understand the best solution for you.

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