Gout
Intense, often excruci ating pain and tenderness that occurs in one or two hot, red, swollen joints. It starts suddenly, often at night, and gets worse over several days.
The big toe is the most typical site (75 percent of patients), but the heel, ankle, instep, or knee, and fingers and knuckles, may be affected.
“Pseudogout” symptoms, typically in the knee or wrist, may be milder or resemble rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.
Gout, one of the most painful forms of arthritis, typically occurs in joints already affected by osteoarthritis.
It’s caused by an inherited disorder that slows the kidney’s ability to excrete uric acid (a by-product of digestion and cellular regeneration) or causes your body to make too much.
The excess accumulates in the form of crystals that settle into one or more joints, eventually causing severe inflammation. Gout is diagnosed when these crystals are spotted in an X ray or in fluid extracted from the joint.
The disorder is more common in men than in women, most often striking men over age 45 who are overweight and heavy drinkers.
Gout can take three forms:
Acute gout develops when uric-acid crystals form in the joint fluid. Left untreated, attacks may last days or weeks and become increasingly frequent and painful.
Chronic gout leads to lumpy uric-acid deposits, called tophi, near the affected joints, at the elbows, and even under the skin of the ears. Some people never experience an acute attack, but eventually develop kidney problems, including kidney stones, as a result of the excess uric acid. Pseudogout” also involves crystal deposits in and around the joints, but these crystals are made of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD), not uric acid.
What is it?
How is it treated?
Gout is more likely to occur in spring and summer. Why? The dehydrating effects of warm weather may promote uric acid buildup. So drink up!
Gout can’t be cured, but drug therapy offers relief, easing acute attacks and preventing flare-ups. Pseudogout is difficult to treat, however, because there are no drugs that prevent CPPD crystal buildup.
The drug colchicine can abort an acute gout attack within 12 hours, although the dose that is necessary often causes nausea and diarrhea.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, also can ease pain. To prevent recurrent gout attacks, your doctor may prescribe daily colchicine or, if side effects are a problem, drugs that lower uric-acid levels.
These include allopurinol (Zyloprim), which blocks uric-acid production, and others that promote its excretion, such as probenecid (Benemid) and sulfinpyrazone (Anturane).
Some people need both types.
While colchicine may help prevent attacks of pseudo-gout, it’s more effective against true gout. NSAIDs and shots of cortisone injected into the affected joint often ease the pain.
Smart dietary choices are a cornerstone of care, especially if you also have other medical conditions (such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension) that affect your meal planning.
Nutritional counseling is a must.
• Slim down. About half of gout sufferers are over weight. Shedding excess pounds may normalize uric-acid levels, easing or banishing gout. But do it slowly; never skip meals or crash diet. Sudden weight loss can trigger an attack.
Watch your purines. Foods rich in purines may
contribute to gout because purine breaks down into uric acid. If you have gout
and aren’t taking a medication to lower uric acid, avoid purine-rich foods.
These include meat and poultry, especially organ
meats such as liver; cured or smoked meat and fish; other seafood, especially
scallops, sardines, anchovies, her ring, and mackerel; chocolate; some
vegetables, such as asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, dried beans,
and peas; dry cereals; and foods made with baking powder.
Even if your gout is controlled, you may need to be cautious, limiting yourself to one high-purine food a day.
OUR UNIVERSES COMMENTS:
It seems that they have identified the cause as toxic food of specific types and to even suggest that a person can eat even one of these foods is ludicrous and to make the following suggestions and drugs is motivated by greed and ignorance! To not tell people that it is their diet and life style that is primary in causing their conditions is bordering on criminal neglect and abuse! They try to say that hypothyroidism is a cause of this condition, when it most likely is only one of its symptoms. Why not just change their diets! That won’t work for them because they do not know what foods any particular person should eat to change the problem!
What more can we say?
If you have gout get your thyroid checked. Hypothyroidism is more common among people with gout. The connection? Low levels of thyroid hormone may slow the excretion of uric acid. Taking thyroid pills can solve the problem.
• Get checked. A blood test for uric-acid levels should be part of your periodic health exam.
High levels don’t necessarily lead to gout, but can be a warning sign of this or other problems. Sometimes other drugs (even daily aspirin or diuretics for hypertension) may compromise your kidneys’ ability to excrete uric acid. You might need to change these drugs.
• Monitor your blood sugar and heart health. Diabetes, high triglyceride levels, and atherosclerosis of blood vessels supplying the heart and brain occur more commonly in people with gout.
• Steer clear. Avoid supplements that contain niacin and nicotinamide. High doses may increase your
uric-acid levels.
• Berry, berry good. Cherries, hawthorn berries, blueberries, and other dark red-blue berries contain substances that can help lower uric-acid levels. If you can’t find cherries, try taking 1,000 mg daily of cherry-fruit-extract pills, available in some health food stores.
• Go easy on the alcohol. Wine, beer, and hard liquor in large amounts decrease the kidneys’ ability to clear uric acid, which can trigger a gout attack. Wine and beer are also high in purines. If you have gout, drink only moderately—no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks for men—especially if you are not taking drugs that lower uric acid.
• Drink lots of water. Two to three quarts of water daily can help you excrete uric acid and will dilute your urine, thereby discouraging the formation of kidney stones.
Your Preventive Plan:
Slim down. About half of gout sufferers are overweight.
Shedding excess pounds may normalize uric-acid levels, easing or banishing gout. But do it slowly; never skip meals or crash diet. Sudden weight loss can trigger an attack.
Watch your purines. Foods rich in purines may contribute to gout because purine breaks down into uric acid. If you have gout and aren’t taking a medication to lower uric acid, avoid purine-rich foods.
These include meat and poultry, especially
organ meats such as liver; cured or smoked meat and fish; other seafood,
especially scallops, sardines, anchovies, her ring, and mackerel; chocolate;
some vegetables, such as asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, dried
beans, and peas; dry cereals; and foods made with baking powder.
Even if your gout is controlled, you may need
to be cautious, limiting yourself to one high-purine food a day.
If you have gout, get your thyroid checked. Hypothyroidism is more common among people with gout. The connection? Low levels of thyroid hormone may slow the excretion of uric acid. Taking thyroid pills can solve the problem.
• Get checked. A blood test for uric-acid levels should be part of your periodic health exam.
High levels don’t necessarily lead to gout, but can be a warning sign of this or other problems. Sometimes other drugs (even daily aspirin or diuretics for hypertension) may compromise your kidneys’ ability to excrete uric acid. You might need to change these drugs.
• Monitor your blood sugar and heart health. Diabetes, high triglyceride levels, and atherosclerosis of blood vessels supplying the heart and brain occur more commonly in people with gout.
Supplements
• Steer clear. Avoid supplements that contain niacin and nicotinamide. High doses may increase your
uric-acid levels.
• Berry, berry good. Cherries, hawthorn berries,
blueberries, and other dark red-blue berries contain substances that can help
lower uric-acid levels.
If you can’t find cherries, try taking 1,000 mg
daily of cherry-fruit-extract pills, available in some health food stores.
• Go easy on the alcohol. Wine, beer, and hard liquor in large amounts decrease the kidneys’ ability to clear uric acid, which can trigger a gout attack.
Wine and beer are also high in purines.
If you have gout, drink only moderately—no more than
one drink a day for women and two drinks for men—especially if you are not taking
drugs that lower uric acid.
OUR UNIVERSES COMMENT:
This condition is just another form of Atthritis
and its cause is the same. Toxic foods,
stress and environment!
Why do they even suggest using drugs to lower uric
acid or purines, when there are foods that will do the same things. Note: that those fruits mentioned above
negate uric acid or purines, are used to make wine that are high in purines.
Our science tells that such food that can cause the problems will also be able to cure or correct the condition when tested to be compatible for that purpose! Take our seminars and learn for yourself!
• Drink lots of water. Two to three quarts of water daily can help you excrete uric acid and will dilute your urine, thereby discouraging the formation of kidney stones.
If you have any questions, contact us: institute@zionsmall.org - Controlcenter@zionsmall.org