Kings disease, or what is known as gout, is the most common disease affecting humans in the current century for several reasons, including unhealthy diets, lack of sufficient exercise, and avoiding drinking water in quantities appropriate to the body. Therefore, gout pain appears frequently with age. Therefore, during this article, we will learn about the most important symptoms of gout, its causes, treatment, and the best diet to prevent it.
Gout
Gout is a form of arthritis, which in turn affects the joints of the knee, ankle, foot, hand, wrist, and elbow, but mainly affects the big toe, or what is known as the plantar, as a result of the deposition of uric acid crystals.
Symptoms of gout
Gout pain comes suddenly without warning and affects each joint individually. Gout attacks can wake the sufferer from sleep due to the severity of the painful symptoms, which are as follows
- Sharp pain
- redness
- Joint stiffness
- swelling
- Warmth of the joint and a feeling of heat in it
Causes of gout
The body makes uric acid as a result of breaking down chemical compounds called purines resulting from eating some foods, after which the body delivers them to the kidneys until they are excreted during urination. But when large amounts of purine are broken down in the body, this increases the levels of uric acid in the blood, which the kidneys cannot deal with and get rid of. Therefore, they begin to be deposited on the joints one by one, eventually causing severe pain in the joints of the body.
Risk factors
Some factors promote the body's formation of large amounts of uric acid and increase the possibility of developing gout, such as:
- Diet: Foods that contain purines, such as red meat, fish, drinks sweetened with fructose, as well as alcoholic beverages, stimulate the condition.
- Weight gain: Excess body weight stimulates high levels of uric acid that the kidneys cannot get rid of
- Chronic diseases: Some diseases such as untreated high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart and kidney diseases cause excess uric acid and increase the risk of gout.
- Medications: Some medications can increase the level of uric acid in the blood, such as diuretics, immunosuppressants, and low doses of aspirin as well.
- History of gout in the family: Family history of the disease leads to a high probability of developing gout and an increase in the level of uric acid in the body
- Age and gender: It is believed that men are more susceptible to uric acid accumulation than women, especially between the ages of 30 and 50. However, menopause in women also increases the possibility of developing it.
How often do you have a painful gout attack?
Usually, the recurrence of painful attacks resulting from gout varies from one person to another depending on various factors, including diet, different amounts of water drunk, and also according to the person’s physical condition. But it usually recurs within short periods of time, if not treated properly and a proper diet is followed.
Diagnosis of gout
The doctor diagnoses the patient's condition based on the symptoms and appearance of the affected joint, but he may request some medical tests to facilitate the diagnosis:
- Joint fluid analysis:
The doctor withdraws a sample of joint fluid to be examined under a microscope and uric acid crystals appear
- Blood analysis:
The analysis shows the levels of uric acid in the blood.
- X ray:
X-rays may help show other causes of arthritis if present.
- Ultrasound:
Ultrasound can help show uric acid crystals.
When do I seek medical advice?
Medical intervention must be resorted to immediately, firstly, if sudden gout pain appears in any joint, secondly, if the patient is taking gout treatment and following a diet, but to no avail, and thirdly, if fever appears with joint pain.
What questions might the doctor ask?
The questions that may be asked are:
- What are the symptoms?
- When did these symptoms first appear?
- Are your symptoms persistent? Or does it appear and disappear?
- Did the pain initially appear in the hallux?
- Are there foods or drinks that increase your symptoms?
- Do you have any other health problems?
- What medications are you currently taking?
- Do you have a family history of gout?
- What do you usually eat during the day?
Detecting gout symptoms
How do I deal with sudden joint pain?
Sometimes, the pain limits the affected person from moving, especially if he lives alone, so you must do the following until you visit a doctor as soon as possible:
- Avoid drinking drinks sweetened with fructose
- Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages.
- Drink large amounts of fluids and water.
- Raise the joint that feels pain off the ground.
- Apply ice to the painful joint.
- Avoid any potential pressure on the joint.
And communicate directly with the ambulance or the nearest hospital to you, to control and treat the pain.
Complications of gout
Repeated attacks of gout can cause several risks, including:
- Recurrence of gout, even after following up with the doctor and taking medications regularly, and this may in turn lead in the long run to erosion and destruction of the joint.
- Advanced cases of gout cause tophi, which are deposited urate crystals, and appear on the nails, hands, feet, and ankles.
- Urate deposition can lead to obstruction of the urinary tract in gout patients, which in turn causes kidney stones.
Treating gout symptoms
Gout treatment includes several aspects, the most important of which is the pharmacological aspect, which requires medical supervision for the entire disease because it includes taking the following:
- Analgesic medications containing ibuprofen, indomethacin, or celecoxib help relieve the pain of acute gout attacks.
- Anti-inflammatory medications such as colchicine that relieve acute gout pain.
- Medications that control acute pain and inflammation in gout attacks, such as cortisone, are taken either through tablets in the mouth or through joint injections.
- Medicines that prevent the formation of uric acid and its deposition in the affected joint, such as allopurinol and febustat.
- Medicines that stimulate the kidneys to eliminate large amounts of uric acid, such as probenecid.
Non-pharmacological treatment of gout
Non-pharmacological treatment of gout is an essential aspect of the prevention of gout and is represented in the following:
- Follow a diet that includes a variety of animal and plant proteins.
- Avoid meat frequently.
- Weight loss if obese or overweight.
- Avoid gaining weight again because it constantly stimulates the formation of urate crystals.
- Drink sufficient amounts of water between meals and before breakfast.
- Do exercise regularly.
- Avoid drinking drinks that contain alcohol.
- Avoid drinks sweetened with unnatural fructose.
- Just eat natural fruits to get the appropriate amounts of sugar during the day.
Pain is a feeling that the body feels if there is a problem, so health is a crown on the heads of healthy people and deserves to be preserved.