What are the causes of gout and how can it be prevented ?
- By:groshan fabiola
Many of us have heard about gout, a common affection of the joints, but not everybody knows what is the cause of this form of arthritis and how it can be prevented. Gout manifests itself as a severe pain attack that usually occurs during the night and that affects the big toe.
In order to learn how to prevent this affection you need to understand its causes. In most of the cases, gout attacks appear at people who have hyperuricemia. This conditions occurs if the level of uric acid inside the blood is too high above the normal limit. Normally the kidneys are responsible with the elimination of the uric acid from the body, but sometimes there's too much of it and they can't get rid of all of it.
If a patient is also suffering from kidney disease then the risks og gout drastically increase, because the uric acid levels will certainly raise if the kidneys aren't functioning properly.
If there's too much uric acid in the blood for a long time, then it will start to crystallize and turn into a hard crust. This first happens in the big toe's joint, and it the uric acid is not eliminated soon, other joints will also be affected.
But if the kidneys are working properly, what can cause too much uric acid for them to handle?
Well there are some factors that seriously increase the levels of uric acid. The most important one and that can cause these levels to raise very much are foods that contain purines. Purines are the substance from which uric acid results after digestion, so eating a lot of purine-rich foods will directly affect the uric acid levels These foods are shellfish and red meat.
The second product that raises the acid level is alcohol. Someone who drinks a lot has a high risk of a gout attack.
There are a few other causes of gout. Among these, the most common are obesity and high blood pressure.
And finally, the last thing that can cause gout is your genetic legacy. Although this doesn't appear many times, some people inherit a malfunction in an enzyme from the body and this causes too much uric acid in the blood.
If you want to prevent gout and gout attacks you have to lower the quantity of uric acid from your body. You can do this by loosing weight if you have a few extra pounds, by cutting down the alcohol you drink, and most important by changing your diet. A diet change is needed both if you want to prevent and if you want to treat gout, so start cutting down the purine-rich food if you feel that you're in danger.About the author:
If you are intersted in finding more information about gout you can click on this website http://www.gout-info-center.com. Also you will find there valuable information about gout symptoms and causes of gout.