Health And Medical

Archive for the ‘Gout’ Category

Here, you’ll discover what gout is, what causes it, and, how to treat it naturally without the need for medications with there very nasty side effects.

WHAT IS GOUT AND WHAT CAUSES IT?

Gout is actually just one of over 100 types of arthritis and is reckoned to be one of the most painful, if not the most painful. It accounts for around 5% of all arthritic conditions.

It is caused by the formulation of needle-like crystals in your joints, tendons and surrounding tissue. They give rise to the typical symptoms of gout which are redness, swelling, stiffness, inflammation, hot to the touch and excruciating pain.

Gout crystals typically appear as a result of having high levels of uric acid in your blood, a condition known as ‘hyperuricea.’ So as a gout sufferer, you need to reduce your uric acid levels and maintain them at healthy, relatively low levels. In this way you can help to prevent recurring gout with it’s associated dangers (see below).

But where does uric acid come from in the first place? It is produced as a byproduct of your body’s normal metabolic process, where chemical compounds called ‘purines’ have an active role. When these compounds break down during the process, uric acid is produced.

When your kidneys don’t perform their usual function of excreting excess uric acid effectively enough, or, your body is producing just too much for your otherwise efficient kidneys to handle, you end up with high uric acid in your blood. Then crystal formation. And so gout.

TREATING GOUT WITH MEDICATION

Usually doctors recommend drug-based medications to treat gout attacks. These are aimed at reducing inflammation and relieving pain. There are other medications that are used to lower uric acid levels to try to prevent further attacks. Drugs can be effective for very many people, but they do have a string of nasty side effects — nausea, stomach cramps, bleeding, ulcers, diarrhea, etc. — that put many sufferers off of there use.

But, luckily, you can treat your gout naturally. And this is what gout sufferers are increasingly turning to with a lot of success.

TREATING GOUT NATURALLY OBJECTIVES

There are two objectives when treating gout naturally; get rid of the symptoms of gout, and, prevent recurring gout. The first objective is self explanatory because the symptoms are just so excruciating and prevent you from getting on with your day to day activities.

But the second objective, isn’t so much about preventing further pain and misery, but more about trying to prevent the serious repercussions of frequent gout attacks, i.e. permanent joint damage and kidney problems including horrendous kidney stones.

NATURAL TREATMENT TO ELIMINATE GOUT SYMPTOMS

So let’s deal with the first objective; treating the gout symptoms. Here are 3 simple tips for reducing inflammation and relieving gout pain…

(1) Drink lots and lots of water every single day, at least 12 x 8oz glasses per day. This keeps you hydrated which helps prevent further crystal formation, and, helps your kidneys to do their job more effectively during an attack.

(2) Eat between 30 and 40 cherries every 4 hours during an attack. Cherries have natural anti-inflammatory properties and can also help to reduce blood uric acid.

(3) Make sure you take-in plenty of vitamin C. This has been shown to increase urinary excretion of uric acid, and, to lower uric acid levels. You can get this through eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, but also through supplements.

NATURAL TREATMENT TO PREVENT RECURRING GOUT

Now let’s deal with prevention. And in many ways this is the most important aspect of your gout treatment, as you’ve now seen above…

Removing the symptoms of gout is one thing, and can be fairly easily achieved through natural approaches, but getting to, and maintaining, a healthier regimen that helps to prevent further attacks can be more difficult.

There are several issues that you need to address, too many to go into detail in the time available here. These are important subjects such as your weight position, your diet, overall health, family history of gout, medications, underlying conditions, etc. Your diet and weight are particularly important.

You’re in luck though. There’s a special gout report available online [see below] that has all the information you need in one place. It is what thousands of ex-gout victims worldwide have successfully used to prevent their gout returning. It also contains a special 2 hour gout pain relief program.

And it uses fully-researched, totally natural methods. So that you benefit two ways: (1) you get rid of your excruciating pain very fast, and, (2) you prevent your gout returning, so that you reduce the risk of permanent damage.

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I’m a 44 year old, full on “weekend warrior” and i have recently discovered that I have Gout. I am recovering after having Achilles tendon surgery six months ago. It was a rather bad, complete rupture I managed to inflict on myself during bouts of extremely intensive training. Not satisfied initially that it was an Achilles tear I continued on in absolute agony, to train again the following weekend. (left leg was black below the knee and could hardly bear any weight). Finally I went for an MRI scan, and yes it was confirmed as a complete rupture, “oh and by the way, there’s a bit of arthritis in your ankle, but nothing to worry about”. Anyway, the recovery was hampered by a nasty infection to the surgery wound, for which I was taking antibiotics (3 different types) for months.

So the outcome, I’ve since learned, is that combining the initial ankle trauma, the Achilles surgery, the months of immobility, along with the copious amounts of antibiotics, which also caused the Candida I have suffered with for years to flare up, made me The Number One Candidate to Get Gout. Analysis of my diet and drinking habits upon further investigation into Why me? revealed still more reasons that I Got Gout!

Furthermore, I told my father back in England (I live in Australia), about my condition. His reply was to inform me that he had been taking medication for years to help with his rheumatoid arthritis (same family or what?). So to top off my list of ‘self inflicted’ causes I now had an hereditary reason that I was bound to be a gout victim. Thanks!

I had been limping around for almost 6 months, thinking that the symptoms I was experiencing were just normal, post Achilles surgery reactions. Lack of mobility, swelling, aches and pains etc.

I decided that I needed some help so I went to see my doctor and he diagnosed the Gout problem and dutifully prescribed Allopurinol and Colchicine, but thankfully with some wise words of advice…..”You don’t want to be taking these for too long, have a look for more natural alternatives”. I took his advice and immediately set about researching Gout, its causes and more importantly, what Gout treatment choices were available.

The first thing I did was to look up “Colchicine” and here’s the rather disturbing explanation I found,

Colchicine – a poisonous extract of autumn crocus plants.

Use – to inhibit cell division and cause chromosome doubling in plants, to treat gout.

Well that was enough for me, I decided then and there that I was going to investigate the facts about gout and gout treatment in order to find another way to treat myself, alternative or otherwise. Here’s the basis of what I found out.

Gout is a very painful form of arthritis, which occurs when there is an excessive build up of uric acid in the body (hyperuricemia). When this buildup of uric acid is overly elevated it can accumulate in the joints throughout the body as sharp urate crystals.

These urate crystals may be present in the joint for a long time without causing symptoms, but can often lead to pain, tenderness, redness, warmth, and swelling in the affected areas. Infection, injury to the joint, surgery, drinking too much alcohol, or eating the wrong kinds of foods may suddenly bring on the symptoms.

More people than ever these days seem to be suffering fromgout. It will affect around 1-2% of the Western population at some point in their lives.Gout affects an estimated one million Americans, most commonly men (800,000 men versus 200,000 women). Men tend to develop gout in their late 30s or early 40s. Women more typically develop gout later in life, starting in their 60s.

The elevated levels of uric acid and subsequent increase in the incidence of gout are believed to be due to the increase in a number of risk factors in our modern society. These include metabolic syndrome, longer life expectancy and changes in diet. Gout was historically known as “the disease of kings” or “rich man’s disease”, due to the fact that the diet of these people included many of those foods with high levels of purines (purines raise levels of uric acid).

Many people prefer to tackle their Gout problem by utilizing more natural treatment protocols, which address the actual cause of the Gout rather than merely masking the symptoms (pain and swelling).

To even become aware that there are ‘alternative’ treatment options when looking for a Gout remedy is in itself empowering. Lowering the level of uric acid in the body is the primary issue. Dietary changes, re-hydration, simple mobilization techniques, along with a gentle increase in exercise, will combine to bring about huge improvements in your condition.

These changes will also affect the ph level in your body, making your body more alkaline, ideally around 7.35 on an acid(1), alkaline(14) scale. This in itself will have an enormous effect on your general well-being, whilst giving a huge boost to your immune system. Uric acid is more easily dissolved and ultimately excreted from a body that has a higher ph ratio.

Adequate hydration is essential, not only for helping your body to dilute harmful uric acid, but also to help dissolve and excrete the harmful urate crystals. For the overall benefits to your health, drinking good quality filtered water regularly throughout the day should become second nature, not waiting until you feel thirsty to have a drink. The general guidelines are to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, although this will need to be adjusted depending on your environment and activity level.

A daily regimen of active and passive joint mobilization exercises will also help to get the circulation flowing by moving the ‘stagnant’ energy. By adopting this approach you will help your body to dislodge the urate crystals that have built up. This kind of gentle stimulation is similar in essence to hatha yoga, but instead, focusing on the joints rather than stretching muscles, ligaments and tendons.

This is just the beginning of my quest to finding the right Gout Treatment for me. The improvement in my condition has been great. I’m more active and mobile, especially noticeable first thing in the morning – no more hobbling like a crippled old man to get to the bathroom!

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What Causes Gout?

Gout is often related to an inherited abnormality in the body to process uric acid. Uric acid levels can become elevated by eating a lot of purine-rich foods such as meats, by the overproduction of uric acid by the body, or if the kidneys do not eliminate excess uric acid. When uric acid reaches a certain level in the blood it precipitates out in the form of monosodium urate crystals. In gout, the crystals are deposited in connective tissue and joint spaces evoking intense inflammation.

People with high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia) do not always develop gout. Actually most people with hyperuricemia do not develop gout. Therefore it is not necessarily the high level of uric acid causing gout but perhaps a rapid change in its level. Gout attacks can be precipitated by:

dehydration
injury
fever
heavy eating
heavy drinking of alcohol
recent surgery

Other contributory factors include:

obesity
weight gain
high blood pressure
abnormal kidney function
certain medications
What Are Gout Attacks?

Gout usually attacks a single joint suddenly and intensely. Gouty joints show the most visibly red signs of inflammation of any type of arthritis. An initial attack of gout may last several days and disappear even if untreated. Subsequent attacks may not occur for weeks, months, years, or not at all. In severe cases, repeated attacks occurring over a long period may cause damage to the joints and loss of mobility.

A definitive diagnosis of gout can be made by examination of aspirated joint fluid with a polarizinglight microscope for evidence of crystals. Approximately one million people in the United States suffer from gout. It is nine times more common in men than women, predominantly after puberty with a peak age of 75. Gout attacks in women usually occur after menopause.

Gout Prevention

Prevention of acute gout involves:

maintaining adequate fluid intake
weight reduction
dietary changes
reduction in alcohol consumption
medications to reduce hyperuricemia
Gout Medications

Medication treatment of gout includes:

Acetaminophen ( brand name – Tylenol) or other analgesic painkillers – for pain.
NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), more specifically indomethacin (brand name – Indocin) – for inflammation.
Colchicine – prevents or relieves gout attacks by reducing inflammation.
Corticosteroids – for anti-inflammatory response.
Probenecid (brand names – Benemid, Probalan) – to decrease uric acid blood levels by increasing the excretion of uric acid into the urine.
ColBenemid (other brand names are Col-Probenecid and Proben-C) – contains Probenecid, a uricosuric agent, and Colchicine, has anti-gout properties.
Allopurinol (brand name – Zyloprim) – to lower blood uric acid by preventing uric acid production. Allopurinol blocks the conversion of purine in foods to uric acid.
Febuxostat (brand name – Uloric) – lowers serum uric acid levels by blocking xanthine oxidase.
Losartan (brand names – Cozaar and Hyzaar) – not specifically a gout medication but is an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, antihypertensive drug that may help control uric acid levels.
Fenofibrate (brand name – Tricor) – not a specific gout medication but it a lipid-lowering drug that may help uric acid levels.

Gout has the distinction of being one of the most frequently recorded medical illnesses throughout history. Research is currently working toward the development of more effective gout medications.