Say NO To Gout Attack

Do you know that gout has long been known as the disease of king? This was because gout was mainly seen in royal class or wealthy men in their 40s and 50s due to their regular consumption of rich diet which consists of red meats, seafood, and alcohol.

Today, gout is no longer a health issue limited to the elderly only, it can also occur in young adults aged 20s to 30s. Regular consumption of a high protein diet, excessive alcohol intake and dehydration due to insufficient daily water intake are the causes that increase the likelihood of developing gout disease.[1]

Ignoring the pain of gout and left it untreated may lead to worsening pain and joint damage. Keep reading to find out more about this painful joint condition, the common symptoms of gout as well as recommended lifestyle and diet tips to prevent the next gout attack.

What is Gout?

Gout is a painful form of inflammatory arthritis that occurs in joints area such as the big toe (common place for gout to start), the ankle, and the knee. It usually affects one joint at a time and a gout attack/ flare up can last for days or weeks. Repeated bouts of gout may lead to gouty arthritis, a worsening form of arthritis. If left untreated, gout can cause erosion and destruction of a joint which may lead to permanent joint damage.[2]

Gout happens when the body produces too much uric acid or kidneys fail to excrete uric acid effectively through urine. Uric acid is produced when the body breaks down purines which are found in the body and from our intake of purine-rich foods, such as meat, poultry, seafood, sugary beverages, and alcohol, especially beer. When your body has high uric acid levels, sharp needle like uric acid crystals can build up around joints, resulting in joint inflammation, difficulty to move and intense pain when you move around the affected joint.

Common Symptoms

With gout, you’ll have swelling, redness, warmth, and tenderness to the touch in your affected joints. During gout flares, it can be extremely painful and sensitive that people could not stand anything touching that affected joint, even with a bedsheet. The pain can interfere your daily routine, including walking, and going up and down the stairs. Often sudden and severe, it typically affecting the joint of big toe but can also affect other joints. Gout attacks tend to occur most often in the middle of the night. This may be due to lower body temperature at night, changes of breathing pattern while asleep, and sleep apnea problem.[3]

Gout Risk Factor

Factors that increase the uric acid level in your body include:

• Diet. Protein-rich foods, alcohol, and sugary beverages increases the risk of gout.
• Weight. Obesity causes your body to produce more uric acid and affecting your kidneys to eliminate uric acid.
• Family history of gout. You are more likely to develop the disease if other members of your family have had gout.
• Pre-existing medical conditions. Certain conditions increase the risk of gout, such as hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.
• Gender. Men have higher risk than women as they have higher uric acid levels in their body. However, women's uric acid levels start to rise after menopause, due to the lack of estrogen that helps to flush out uric acid naturally from the body.[4]
• Age. Men are more likely to develop gout between the ages of 30 and 50, whereas women generally develop signs and symptoms of gout after menopause.

Tips to protect against gout:

Despite the fact that we can’t change our genetic or gender predispositions to guard against gout, we can manage lifestyle and dietary factors to proactively alleviate gout and arthritis symptoms.

Watch your diet

Diet plays a major role in protecting against gout. The key to lowering the risk of gout attack is to maintain a balanced diet that is low in purine.

As the level of uric acid is highly affected by the consumption of high purine foods, it is undoubtedly a good idea to limit the intake of purine-rich foods, such as meat, fish and sugary beverages. Refined carbohydrates such as white bread, cakes, and cookies should also be avoided or taken in moderation as they are low in nutrients and may increase uric acid levels.

It is advisable to opt for low-purine foods in your daily diet, such as vegetables, eggs, whole grains, nuts, legumes, dairy products, and fruits, especially cherries. According to a study, cherries contain anthocyanins, a form of antioxidants that may help to prevent gout attack by lowering uric acid levels and reducing chronic inflammation associated with recurrent gout flares. Alternatively, you may consider dietary supplements that contain such ingredient to reduce uric acid levels.[5]

Limit your alcohol intake

Alcohol, particularly beer, contains high levels of purines that lead to increased levels of uric acid in the body. When you drink alcohol, your body will expel the alcohol instead of removing uric acid through urine, which leads to the accumulation and formation of uric acid crystals in the body overtime.[6] Cutting back or quitting alcoholic drinks can help to avoid future flare ups.

Stay hydrated

Drinking enough water help to flush the uric acid crystals that cause gout out of your system. In general, the recommended daily intake of water is minimum 8 glasses of plain water per day. If you're having a gout flare-up, consider increasing your intake of plain water to 16 glasses a day. The water helps your kidneys flush excess uric acid faster.[7]

Lose weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial since being overweight can make you more susceptible to gout episodes by increasing your insulin resistance. Insulin resistance causes the body unable to utilize insulin as it should be to remove sugar from the blood, thus leading to high uric acid levels.

However, it is also important to avoid crash dieting as rapid weight loss can also trigger gout attacks.

Exercise regularly

Regular exercise helps control gout and by lowering uric acid levels to prevent gout attacks. However, exercise can be challenging due to the pain during a gout attack and for individuals who suffer from chronic gout condition. After the gout flare up subsides, you may consider incorporating joint friendly exercises such as brisk walking, cycling, and swimming to maintain physical health and reduce the symptoms of the gout condition. The recommended amount of moderate physical activity is 150 minutes a week.

Gout flares can be painful and exhausting. Although there is no cure for gout, but you can still effectively manage gout risks with diet, exercise and making healthy lifestyle changes.