GOUT

What is Gout?

Gout is a common and complex form of arthritis that can affect anyone. Gout is a painful form of arthritis. When your body has extra uric acid, sharp crystals may form in the big toe or other joints, causing episodes of swelling and pain called gout attacks. Gout is treatable with medications and changes in diet and lifestyle.

It usually occurs earlier in men than women. It generally occurs after menopause in women.

Gout flares often begin in your big toe or a lower limb. Gout happens when high levels of serum urate build up in your body, which can then form needle-shaped crystals in and around the joint. This leads to inflammation and arthritis of the joint. When the body makes too much urate, or removes too little, urate levels build up in the body. However, many people with high levels of serum urate will not develop gout.

Causes

The human body makes uric acid during the breakdown of chemicals called purines found in certain food and drinks. This normal byproduct goes through the kidneys and exits the body when you urinate.

Sometimes the body produces too much uric acid. Or the kidneys can’t do a good job handling it. When the body has high levels of uric acid, or hyperuricemia, uric acid crystals can concentrate in the joints. The sharp, needle-like crystals cause gout. However, many people with higher uric acid levels never get gout.

Risk factors of gout includes:

• Being male

• Being obese

• Having certain health conditions, including:

  • Congestive heart failure

  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)

  • Insulin resistance

  • Metabolic syndrome

  • Diabetes

  • Poor kidney function

• Using certain medications, such as diuretics (water pills).

• Drinking alcohol. The risk of gout is greater as alcohol intake goes up.

• Eating or drinking food and drinks high in fructose (a type of sugar).

• Having a diet high in purines, which the body breaks down into uric acid. Purine-rich foods include red meat, organ meat, and some kinds of seafood, such as anchovies, sardines, mussels, scallops, trout, and tuna.

Symptoms

An episode of gout is called a gout attack. Gout attacks are very painful and can happen quite suddenly, often overnight. During a gout attack, symptoms in the affected joint(s) may include:

• Intense pain.

• Redness.

• Stiffness.

• Swelling.

• Tenderness, even to light touch, such as from a bedsheet.

• Warmth, or a feeling like the joint is “on fire.”

• How long does a gout attack last?

A gout attack can last a week or two. Between gout attacks, you may have no symptoms at all. 

If gout is untreated over long periods of time, tophi can develop. A tophus is the build-up of needle-shaped crystals that cause hard lumps to form under the skin, in and around the joints and other organs. Tophi start out as painless; however, over time, they can become painful and can cause bone and soft tissue damage and misshapen joints.

Homoeoapthic treatment for gout

Homoeopathy along with correcting the diets & lifestyle helps in curing gout. Homoeopathy have several medicines for gout but are selected according to the symptoms. A well-chosen homoeopathic medicine for gout helps in curing it permanently.

Brahma Madhurya Homoeopathy goals to treat the PsA as follows:

• removes swelling & tenderness of the joints

• removes pain from the muscles

• treats the underlying cause along with psoriasis

• improves the immunity

• prevent from the recurrence of the disease

• improves general health

• removes associated symptoms with the disease

• Medicines selected here will not have any side-effects

• These medicines do not consist of steroids or anti-inflammatory drugs.

• These medicines help you to overcome PsA from its root cause.

• These medicines are deep acting so it also helps in control the further degeneration of the disease.