What is Gout? A Simple Guide to What Gout Is
What is gout? Gout is a condition that is one of the many forms of arthritis. This is why it is sometimes referred to as gouty arthritis. It is much more common in men than in women, and, particularly in men of an older age. But that’s not to say that younger people and females can’t suffer from gout, because they can, and, often do.
About 1% or so of people — in the West at any rate – will suffer gout during there lifetimes. The symptoms of gout appear mostly in the base joint of the big toe — around 75% of the time — but, gout can manifest itself in any joint.
Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid in the bloodstream that form into uric acid crystals in the joints and surrounding tissue. These microscopic crystals take the shape of ‘needles’ when viewed under a microscope.
Your body, quite naturally, tries to defend itself against these ‘intruders’ and the result is an acute inflammatory reaction to the presence of the uric acid crystals. It’s this that causes the symptoms of gout such as inflammation, swelling, redness, stiffness, hot to touch, and, chronic pain.
So elevated uric acid levels are at the heart of gout, but where does uric acid come from? It is produced in the blood when ‘purines’ — which are part of our chemical structure — breakdown during the process of producing protein and energy for our bodies.
And purines also exist in our foods. Some have relatively low levels, but others have relatively high purine levels, and, some have very high levels of purines. [Note: This is important when considering the effects of your diet on gout.]
But what causes these elevated uric acid levels to occur in the first place? Well, normally, your kidneys process the uric acid produced by the metabolizing of purines, and then flush excess uric acid out of your system, mainly through the urine, but a little through stools.
However, for a number of reasons, your kidneys may not be working efficiently enough, or, your kidneys could be fine, but there is too much uric acid being produced for your kidneys to process as normal.
Either way, the outcome is elevated uric acid levels in your blood, from which uric acid crystals are formed in the joints, resulting in the agonies of gout.
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Tags: Gout Causes, Gout Symptoms, gouty arthritis, high uric acid, uric acid crystals
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