What Causes Gout?
Learn to fight back against the cause of your gout
Like most gout sufferers, you're probably more than familiar with the pain of gout flares.
But you may not know what's actually going on behind the scenes, in your body, to cause the pain.
Gout is a painful form of arthritis caused by high uric acid in your blood (hyperuricemia).
As your uric acid level increases, so does your risk of having gout and painful flares.
Decreasing your uric acid to the recommended target level (less than 6 mg/dL) is the goal for managing gout over the long-term.
Learn how to fight the high uric acid that causes gout >
Gout flares occur when excess uric acid forms crystals, causing inflammation in your joints that leads to swelling and pain.
Flares happen most often in the big toe, but can happen in hands, elbows, and knees.
Gout flares often occur without warning and can cause:
- Joint swelling
- Severe pain
- Tenderness
- Redness
- Heat
Over time, gout flares may occur more often and the pain can last longer.
What triggers a gout attack?
It is hard to say exactly what triggers an attack.
They sometimes occur for no apparent reason. . .other times, something may seem to trigger the attack.
Gout attacks may be triggered by alcohol, certain medicines, another illness, stressful events, or other factors.
Other known gout triggers include:
- Joint injury
- Eating too much of certain foods
- Infection
- Surgery
- Crash diets
- Rapid lowering of uric acid levels with uric acid-lowering medicines
- Some cancer treatments
Where does diet fit in?
There's no denying that important steps like drinking plenty of nonalcoholic beverages (lots of water, less alcohol),
exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and limiting high purine foods are smart choices for people with gout.
However, in most cases just changing your diet alone may not be enough to control your high uric acid.
The uric acid in your blood comes from purines that are produced by your body and also found in many foods.
Most of your uric acid is produced naturally by your body, while the rest comes from your diet.
Some people produce too much uric acid, or have trouble eliminating what they produce.
When this happens, uric acid levels may become too high and can lead to gout.
Eliminating high-purine foods from your diet may help lower your uric acid level.
However, in most cases just changing your diet alone may not be enough to control your high uric acid.
If you're still flaring, it's time to take action.
By now you may have taken your medicine, watched your diet, and stayed active, but gout is still
sending you those all-too-regular reminders of who's really in control. Talk to your healthcare professional about
fighting for fewer flares over the long term by reducing the uric acid that causes them. With a better treatment plan, it
may be a whole different fight.
Next: Learn How To Manage Your Gout >