Gout is among the many different kinds of arthritis. A misconception regarding gout is that uric acid blood tests could just help discover the nature of this disease. The level of uric acid is usual in most individuals with gout attacks, and almost everyone having high amounts of it in the blood do not develop the condition. Now, let us take a look at some facts concerning gout disease.
It Is Common
Millions of US citizens have gout. It is among the common arthritic conditions in the world. Men are commonly much more likely to develop the disease than women. That said, women are also in danger of developing it following menopause.
Europeans Considered It An Affluent Man’s Curse
In the past, it was thought that rich Europeans were cursed with gout for the fact that they enslaved lower class individuals. When these affluent individuals aged, it appeared that a reasonable number of them developed a usual gout attack, with intolerable pain. Even a bed sheet put on the affected area caused the pain. This brings us to our next fact regarding gout.
Uric Acid Causes It
The human body produces uric acid as it breaks down the chemical compounds known as ‘purines’. The former chemical compound accumulating in joints or tissues is what causes gout. A common reason for its overproduction is consuming food items with an abundance of purines, and alcoholic drinks. Poor people consume food items with lower amounts of purines than the affluent ones.
Dieting Can Lower The Total Level Of Uric Acid
One of the ways to keep gout attacks from happening is to reduce the overall amount of the chemical compound in the human body. To lower it, you will have to make changes in your ways of life and diet. In other words, losing weight may be the best way to avert gout attacks. Even so, starting a crash diet to achieve this goal has a potentially counterproductive effect, meaning it can invite the attacks.
Gout Attacks Affect Not Just One’s Big Toe
It is generally considered that gout attacks have an effect on the great toe. However, individuals can experience these issues in any area where multiple parts of their skeleton are joined. In other words, the affected part does not necessarily have to be only the largest toe.
