Gout Pain

Unless you have a serious psychological disorder or fetish for any physical discomfort, you would not welcome anything that could cause you pain. Yes. Innately, humans abhor pain of any kind. So it is only logical that you would detest having gout, one of the most common causes of pain, especially in middle-aged or older men.

What is gout?

A medical condition in which a person's body over produces uric acid. This substance gets lodged in the joints, which in turn causes swelling and pain.

What is uric acid?

Well, it is the end product or the substance that is produced when our bodies metabolize a substance called purine. Our bodies do not actually use this end product, which is why it is most often flushed out of our bodies through our kidneys. In short, it goes out of our system in our urine.

Now let us discuss what purine, the substance that carries uric acid, is. Purine is present in most of the food that we eat, especially in red meat and animals' internal organs such as liver, intestines, and kidneys. It can also be found in some non-meat food products such as mushrooms, beans, green peas, oats, wheat, cauliflowers, and asparagus. It is even present in poultry and seafood. So there is the dilemma. Since purine is present in most food products it is quite hard to avoid.

Moreover, our bodies need purine. In fact, it is quite essential to our existence. Our bodies use purines to convert genes into proteins, convert energy from food into energy that our bodies can use, help our bodies dispose of excess nitrogen, help carry messages through our nerves and muscles, and help our bodies stay healthy by fighting off substances that can cause cancer which are present in some food. Thus, a person cannot survive without purine.

How exactly does uric acid cause gout?

Well, when the blood has high levels of uric acid, the excess uric acid turns into crystals and lodges in the joints. Most often it lodges in the big toe, ankles, knees, fingers, elbows, and wrists. These crystals are the ones that cause swelling, redness, and pain in the joints.

How does a human body produce too much uric acid that can lead to gout?

Well, there are several ways that can cause high levels of uric acid in the body. They are the following:

1) When a person consumes food that is high in purine

2) When a person consumes a lot of food that has purine

3) When a person is genetically inclined to overproduce uric acid when metabolizing purine

4) When a person is genetically unable to properly dispose of uric acid in the body

How do doctors know for sure that a person has gout?

Well, among the things that doctors can do to diagnose gout are:

1) Check medical history or background

2) Conduct urinalyses

3) Conduct blood tests to check the levels of uric acid in the blood

4) Take a sample of the lubricating fluid from the affected joint

5) Ultrasound imaging of the affected joint

Often, doctors just conduct one of these aforementioned tests. However, since gout could be confused with other medical conditions, it may be good advice if you tell your doctor to conduct two or more of the tests or diagnostic procedures mentioned above to assess your condition before making the final conclusion.