Gout, a painful type of arthritis or joint inflammation, is most often the result of high levels of uric acid in your system. Everyone’s body produces this chemical, which is usually broken down and disposed of in urine.
Define Gout – The Facts You Need to Know
Caused by a buildup of uric acid in your body, gout is a type of arthritis. This chemical is created when your body breaks down purines, substances that are found in some foods and drinks, as well as within our bodies. Most of it dissolves in blood, moves to the kidneys and is eliminated in urine.
What is Uric Acid and How Does It Relate to Gout
If you have gout, excess uric acid is probably to blame. While it’s normal to have some in your body, people with gout often have too much of it. Some people’s bodies make too much, but in many cases, your body can’t eliminate it efficiently.
What Are the Main Signs of Gout
Gout, an inflammatory disease often caused by too much uric acid in your blood, can often occur suddenly, without warning. Learning how to recognize the signs can help ensure that you seek the proper treatment and can identify a flare up in the future.
Gout in Foot, Ankle or Knee – 6 Ways to Handle an Attack
Those of you who suffer from recurrent bouts of gout in foot, knees, or ankles are well aware of the intensity of pain this type of inflammatory arthritis can create. Even if you are taking regular medication to reduce the frequency of your flare-ups, most gout sufferers will still experience occasional gout symptoms in one or more joints.
6 Tips on Managing Gout Pain
If you or a loved one suffers from bouts of gout pain, you are already aware of how intense and sudden these attacks can be. Although the big toe is most commonly affected, gout tends to spread into additional joints with successive attacks.
What is Tophaceous Gout and How Can I Manage It?
Tophaceous gout is an advanced, chronic stage of the disease characterized by the development of large deposits of uric acid crystals usually in your joints, cartilage and bones, forming nodules, or lumps known as tophi.
What Does Gout Feel Like … and When to Go to Your Doctor
If you have begun to have a few aches and pains, or perhaps a bit of swelling in your joints once in a while, you may be starting to wonder about gout – especially if you have read about the disease or have family members who suffer from it.
Is Gout Hereditary? What You Need to Know
Is gout hereditary? This is a question that likely plagues the children of gout sufferers, especially those who have witnessed firsthand the pain and inflammation that this disease creates. The fact is, there is a genetic link involved in the development of gout – but not until 2013 was the strength of that link established.