How Acidic Urine Can Be a Symptom of Gout

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Acidic urine, or rather, high uric acid in urine can be a symptom of gout. Gout is caused by uric acid crystals that have formed in your joints, because of high levels of acid in your body. The condition of having high acid levels is called Hyperuricemia.

Your body is continually producing uric acid as part of its normal metabolization process. During this process, chemical compounds called ‘purines’ breakdown and one of the byproducts is uric acid, which your kidneys normally flush out of your body through your urine.

The problem occurs when your kidneys fail to do this effectively enough, or, your body is producing far too much for your kidneys to be expected to handle. When either of these situations happens, you’re left with higher than normal uric acid in your blood, which can lead to gout crystal formation in your joints.

Your doctor can arrange for blood and urine tests to be carried out. If you have high uric acid in blood and high in your urine, then your kidneys are likely working well, but your body is making too much acid. On the other hand, if you have high levels in your blood and low levels in urine, your kidneys are probably not working so well. Based on this your doctor can select the appropriate treatment and perhaps some further tests on your kidneys.

It doesn’t really matter the reason for high uric acid, the outcome is the same; the symptoms of gout, which are, redness, swelling, stiffness, inflammation and the excruciating pain that drives you crazy. More often than not, the attacks are so bad that you can’t even get a sock on, let alone a shoe. (Note: The vast majority of attacks occur in the big toe joint, although any joint can be affected, e.g. side of foot, ankle, knee, elbow, hand, etc.).

Now, although high uric acid in the body leads to gout, there are several underlying factors that can increase the risk of a gout attack. These are things such as; your diet, lifestyle, if you’re overweight, family history of gout / arthritis, medical conditions, medications, etc.

To get a better understanding of your condition and how to treat it, you need to investigate all of these issues. You’ll find information throughout this site. In particular, you’ll want to discover how your diet can lead to acidic urine or high uric acid.