Stop Gout Pain

I have read conflicting numbers about this question, but apparently in the United States between two and five million people have gout. I have also read that one million have gout in the USA. Whatever number you believe, that is a lot of us suffering from gout pain.

The numbers about how many men versus how many women also differ. But it seems that gout afflicts four to eight times as many men as women.

Since men begin increasing their uric acid levels after going through puberty, they have plenty of time to build up a high level of uric acid by middle age. Gout does not show itself until many years of high uric acid levels have occurred.

Women do not start increasing uric acid levels until after menopause, so the hormones evidently play a role in the gender difference with gout. Because of developing high uric acid levels later in life than men, it is primarily older women who may develop gout. Younger women rarely show the disease.

As with many other diseases this one appears to be on an upswing in the United States. I suspect this has to do with the overly processed American food supply that is grown on increasingly depleted soils.

If nutrition plays such a major role in gout, depleted nutrition in our food supply would certainly factor into the development of gout. Of course, the medical profession remains largely oblivious to these ideas as their training aims their attention in other directions.

Sometimes we have to explore many possibilities for ourselves as we grapple with the problems of living with gout.

No Comments » Posted by admin / About Gout

Gout is considered to be a form of arthritis since it involves the build up of crystals in the joints. Everyone usually refers to it as a “particularly painful” kind of arthritis. I can agree with that!

Gout results from the buildup of monosodium urate crystals, needle-like crystals inflaming the joints. The inflamed joints are extremely painful and swollen.

This disease can easily be mistaken for another form of arthritis that is appropriately named pseudogout. However, pseuodgout is the result of a build up of calcium pyrophosphate crystals in the joints, not the monosodium urate crystals.

A blood test can tell the difference, even if the bodily appearance is similar. You might wonder how important it is to tell them apart.

Even though the pain of the two kinds of arthritis can be much the same, the treatment for each of these can be different so it is useful to have a correct diagnosis.

Of the two diseases gout is considered to be the most responsive to diet and has its own drugs that are used to alleviate the symptoms.

Even though gout sometimes is hereditary, I am the only one in my family to have it. My sister does have rheumatoid arthritis, so I may not be as alone in my condition I thought when I first learned about my gout.

I have been learning more than I ever wanted to know about this disease as I try to live with it. Each of us has to do our own experimentation with the treatments available to find our own freedom from gout pain.

No Comments » Posted by admin / About Gout

I remember when I first learned I had gout. I thought I had broken or badly sprained my foot and I did not even know how I did it.

My foot was so painfully sore I could not walk on it and the slightest touch sent me into agony. The big toe was swollen, shiny, and red.

I felt so bad I finally agreed to go to the doctor. My wife and her brother made me a crutch with a towel used for padding on the top of it. That enabled me to hobble out to the car and be driven to the clinic.

At the clinic I was told I had gout, and this began my education about the disease I had ignored all my life.

Gout often goes hand in hand with hypertension, psoriasis, diabetes, and obesity. It is considered to be a particularly acute and painful form of arthritis. No kidding!

Gout is aggravated by dietary factors. The root of the problem is a build up of uric acid in the body. Either too many foods high in purines cause the uric acid level to rise or, more likely, the kidneys are not doing well at filtering uric acid from the blood stream.

When the kidneys do not filter enough uric acid out of the blood, the levels in the blood supply can go high enough to start forming crystals in the joints, which is where the pain begins.

These sharp needle-shaped crystals create inflammation and often occur in the feet, particularly the big toe. One theory is that the cooler temperature of the foot allows the crystals to form.

The affected joint swells and the skin becomes shiny and red. The whole area becomes exceeding sensitive to the least touch. I certainly know that one very well!

Gout attacks are extremely painful and pose numerous challenges for treatment. Treatment usually involves anti-inflammatory drugs and drugs that either inhibit production of uric acid or that help remove uric acid from the blood stream.

The gout patient needs to alter his diet to assist in reducing gout pain. The whole process of treatment can fluctuate with unpredictable results.

Alternative remedies are often touted as the answer. In my case I drank many gallons of black cherry juice, which is supposed to be one of the best natural solutions for gout. I never noticed any results from it at all, to my dismay.

A diagnosis of gout set me on a course of frustration trying to find relief from the pain of gout.

No Comments » Posted by admin / About Gout