Teens Also At Risk Of Gout
Gout is not a health issue limited to older people, it can also occur in teenagers, and managing it with diet is not the best option, doctors said.
High uric acid levels in blood, which causes gout, usually peak in men at the age of 16 or 17, and remain unchanged or increase only slightly afterward, Taiwan Rheumatology Association director Tsai Wen-chan said, adding that there have been cases of gout in teenagers.
Increased risk of obesity from a poor diet and lack of exercise could cause gout in teenagers, and the chance of reoccurrence among gout patients is high at 85 percent, he said.
Some people with gout might believe that changing their diet could cure the disease or they might simply rely on pain killers to manage it without taking other medication, he said.
However, diet affects only 20 percent of uric acid levels, making medical treatment necessary, he added.
The primary treatment for the disease involves using ice packs or anti-inflammatory pills to alleviate pain caused by acute gout attacks, while medication that breaks down uric acid and a healthy lifestyle are needed if levels remain high over the long term, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital rheumatology doctor Yu Kuang-hui said.
A healthy lifestyle includes diet adjustments to avoid food that poses a higher health risk, such as meat, seafood and alcohol, whereas carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and beans are recommended, Yu said.
Symptoms And Signs Of Gout
Acute gouty arthritis usually begins with sudden onset of pain . The metatarsophalangeal joint of a great toe is most often involved , but the instep, ankle, knee, wrist, and elbow are also common sites. Rarely, the hip, shoulder, sacroiliac, sternoclavicular, or cervical spine joints are involved. The pain becomes progressively more severe, usually over a few hours, and is often excruciating. Swelling, warmth, redness, and exquisite tenderness may suggest infection. The overlying skin may become tense, warm, shiny, and red or purplish. Fever, tachycardia, chills, and malaise sometimes occur.
Be Mindful Of Stress Eating
Remember that diet changes alone are usually not enough to treat gout. Research shows that gout is much more likely due to genetics and kidney problems than from eating certain foods. That said, its a good idea try to follow guidance from the American College of Rheumatology to help reduce gout flares as part of your overall treatment plan:
- Avoid eating a lot of meat, shellfish, high-fructose corn syrup , and alcohol
- Limit high-purine foods
- Eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean protein sources
When youre at home, it may be harder to be careful about your diet, especially when there is increased stress as we are all seeing during the pandemic, says Dr. Fields. This is a good time for people with gout to try to be as careful as they can about their diet.
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Why Do Individuals Develop High Uric Acid Levels
The major reason people develop gout is because their kidneys have difficulty excreting uric acid. This happens in 80% of cases of gout. Over-production of uric acid occurs in some patients due to inherited . In patients prone to gout, eating meat, liver, shellfish, and drinking beer can lead to gout attacks. However, kidney disease in the primary reason most people have gout.
What Foods Help With Arthritis
What seems to happen is certain nutrients dampen the production of these chemicals that trigger inflammatory processes, explains nutritional immunologist Professor Phillip Calder, from Southampton University.
They reduce inflammation and, as a result, the pain this causes.
Researchers have found a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytochemicals supplies the body with powerful anti-inflammatory nutrients.
These foods are commonly part of a Mediterranean-style diet of fish, olive oil, fruits, veg, nuts, seeds and beans, Prof Calder adds.
People on this diet have also been found to have a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis, compared to those who eat a more sugar-laden Western diet.
While other studies found changing to a Mediterranean diet can ease pain and stiffness in those already with arthritis.
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Professor David Isenberg, leading rheumatology expert and spokesperson for Arthritis Research UK stresses that everyone is different and what works for one person might not work for another.
He also stresses that no one should come off medication without consulting their doctor.
However, they are currently funding research into the link between bacteria in our gut and inflammatory arthritis.
Some people find changing their diet improves their symptoms, he says. Some find that following a Mediterranean-style diet is helpful.
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Gout Attacks Young Women
Gout is usually associated with port-swilling, over-fed elderly men of the 19th century. In fact, it’s also a 21st-century ailment – and one per cent of the population and the young, suffer from it. So what lifestyle factors are to blame – and how can we learn to avoid it?
What is gout?
Gout is a metabolic disease in which crystals of uric acid – a waste product in the blood – form in the body’s tissues or joints.
In a healthy body, uric acid is normally flushed out of the kidneys in urine, but in cases of gout, levels are too high to be excreted.
Instead, the crystals form in the body’s tissues or in the joints, where they collect in the fluids that keep bones moving smoothly – causing tissue to become inflamed and painful. In rare cases, crystals can form in organs such as the kidney.
What are the symptoms?
In approximately 70 per cent of cases, gout first appears in the big toe, which will suddenly become very tender, red and swollen.
Often the pain comes during the night. Other symptoms are pain and swelling in joints such as ankles, knees and wrists. Without treatment, it can pass after a week.
Depending on the severity of the case, you can go for years between attacks, but usually they become more frequent and painful over time.
How is it diagnosed?
Is it only heavy drinkers and eaters who get it?
Gout acquired its reputation as the disease of the well-fed a long time ago. Henry VIII, Lord Alfred Tennyson and Samuel Johnson all suffered from it.
How serious is it?
Why Are We Seeing This Happen Younger And Younger
The article touched on it then steered us to the drugsof course. But my experience, research, and findings are showing that gout in young people is not limited to just the Standard American Diet diet, but also an over-abundance of living in the middle of so much toxic crap in general.
Ive spent a lot of time and effort pointing people in the direction of being more aware of their environments whats in the air theyre breathing, the water theyre drinking, and the chemicals/substances/hormones theyre making inside their bodies from the crazy stressful lives their living.
The fake, toxic, crap food we get these days is a no-brainer.
Gout in young people is unnecessary.
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Gout And Josh Ozersky
This story also caught my attention, the death of food writer and blogger for many publications Josh Ozersky passed away at the young age of 47. The poor guy had attended a foundation gala in Chicago and later that evening was last seen in the karaoke lounge around 4 am. He was found dead a few hours later in his hotel room.
Whats interesting about Josh is that he was diagnosed with gout in 2009 but promised his audience and readers that he wouldnt be altering his lifestyle at all. Translation, he will continue eating crap regardless of his health.
He is also famous for saying the following quote: Such is the perversity of vegetarians you cant tell whether its a gift or an insult. My favorite meat is lamb fat. My philosophy is that the fat is the meat and the meat is the vegetable. So obviously he liked to eat lots of fat which my ebook strictly teaches you to not even touch it.
When Josh Ozersky wrote for the Esquire magazine which was his last piece he was quoted as saying this about bacon: Bacon is a weirdly personal taste, possibly more so than any other food Ive eaten bacon from commodity pigs that made me happier than bacon from purebred Duroc or Berkshire hogs. Ive eaten jowl bacon that was better than belly bacon. Bacon cares not for your ideals, aspirations, or social standing. It is a straight-up fetish object, and as such not subject to higher brain function.
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Gout
Gout flares start suddenly and can last days or weeks. These flares are followed by long periods of remissionweeks, months, or yearswithout symptoms before another flare begins. Gout usually occurs in only one joint at a time. It is often found in the big toe. Along with the big toe, joints that are commonly affected are the lesser toe joints, the ankle, and the knee.
Symptoms in the affected joint may include:
- Pain, usually intense
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What Is The Prognosis Of Gout
Gout is a chronic condition. Left untreated, patients may suffer from recurrent painful and disabling acute attacks of gout. Joint damage and other complications of gout may occur. However, excellent treatments for gout are available, and most patients respond very well to gout treatment with a good prognosis.
What Is The Latest Research On Gout
Research is being done on using medications that block a chemical signal known as interleukin-1 to treat gout flares in patients who do not respond to other therapies. Anakinra and canakinumab are two medications that block interleukin-1. They are currently used for other conditions and are under investigation for use in gout flare-ups.
There is ongoing research in using a specialized CT scan known as a dual energy CT scan to diagnose gout. There is also a great deal of research investigating the various uric acid transporter genes that are responsible for uric acid metabolism.
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Myth: If You Stay Away From Liver And Alcohol You’ll Avoid Gout Attacks
Truth: Alcoholic drinks especially beer and organ meats such as liver and some fish, including anchovies and sardines, are very high in a class of natural substances known as purines. When the body breaks down purines it creates uric acid, so eating a lot of purine-rich foods does increase the risk of an attack. But while avoiding these foods may reduce attacks, it won’t halt them, says Reveille.
Gout can be life threatening if left untreated.
Who Is Affected By Gout
Gout can affect anyone. It usually occurs earlier in men than women. It generally occurs after menopause in women. Men can be three times more likely than women to get it because they have higher levels of uric acid most of their lives. Women reach these uric acid levels after menopause.
People are more likely to get gout if they have:
- Obesity, or a lot of extra weight.
You are also more likely to develop gout if you:
- Consume a diet high in animal proteins
- Consume a significant amount of alcohol
- Are on water pills .
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How Can You Help Yourself
Weight: After 40, people put on an average of a kilogram a year and this weight puts extra stresses on your joints. Controlling this weight is one of the most important concerns in the fight against arthritis.
“A healthy diet is vital to preventing it,’ says Professor Conaghan.
Activity: Maintaining muscle strength is key to preventing arthritis, because muscle weakness can worsen symptoms. Signs youre getting weaker are: pushing yourself out of chairs, using stair rails for support, struggling to open jars and having difficulty getting out of the bath.
“Most of us get a bit weaker as we age and we develop joint pain,” says Professor Conaghan. “We dont move as much, leading to a downward spiral.”
But there should always be some kind of exercise youre able to do. Build up leg muscles by walking in a swimming pool. Once youre a little stronger, use an exercise bike to burn calories. See a physiotherapist for exercises tailored to you.
Injuries: If you have sporting injuries, make sure you rehabilitate from them thoroughly and pay attention to getting strong again before you go back to sports to reduce your chances of reinjury,” says Professor Conaghan.
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Lessen Your Risk Of Early Death
On average, having gout raises a persons risk of dying earlier than a similar person without gout by 25 percent. To lessen that risk, gout patients need to work with their doctor to lower uric acid levels to the target of < 6 mg/dl and keep it there throughout life, Dr. Edwards says. In addition, people with gout need to control medical conditions that go along with gout , such as hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease.
So if you have gout, heres what you need to do to ensure you live the longest, healthiest life you can:
- Take your gout medications and other medications as directed
- Get screened and treated for comorbid conditions
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Should I Cut Out Purine
There is very little scientific proof that avoiding the purine-rich foods listed above can successfully reduce gout attacks. You may miss out on important nutrients and vitamins by completely cutting these foods from your diet.
If you notice certain foods trigger your gout attacks, you may benefit from cutting down the amounts of those foods in your diet. However not all purine-rich foods are thought to cause gout. For example, a number of vegetables are also rich in purines but appear less likely to cause gout than diets containing meat and shellfish.
Dairy foods, which can contain purines, actually appear to lower the risk of gout. For most people with gout, a healthy balanced diet is all that is needed, alongside medicines to reduce uric acid levels. Most people taking medicines to reduce uric acid levels find they can still eat purine-rich foods without attacks of gout by being careful with the quantity they eat.
Gout And Kidney Disease
Gout is more common in kidney disease because the body has difficulty getting rid of uric acid in the urine.
There are several types of inherited kidney disease that are associated with a high frequency of gout. These conditions are studied by the Rare Inherited Kidney Disease Research Team at Wake Forest School of Medicine, led by Anthony Bleyer, M.D., M.S., a professor in the Section of Nephrology. The conditions that cause gout and kidney disease include uromodulin kidney disease and inherited kidney disease due to mutations in renin. These conditions are inherited, often with many family members affected. Sometimes, only a parent and child are affected in a family.
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People With Gout At Risk Of Premature Death
A new study found that people with gout have a 25 percent greater likelihood of dying prematurely than people without gout. The findings also show that this increased mortality rate has not improved over the past 16 years, unlike the mortality rate for people with rheumatoid arthritis .
Gout, which affects more than 4 percent of adults in the United States, is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It develops in some people who have high levels of uric acid in the blood. The acid can form needle-like crystals in a joint and cause sudden, severe episodes of pain, tenderness, redness, warmth and swelling. Gout is also associated with other illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.
The study, published online recently in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, looked at data available in The Health Improvement Network an electronic medical record database in the United Kingdom that includes information on more than 10 million people.
The researchers identified more than 103,000 people with gout from the database. Each person with gout was matched based on age, sex and what calendar year they were entered into the database with up to five people without gout . The researchers then divided the participants into two groups based on the gout patients year of diagnosis, forming an early group and a late group . They then looked at how many people in each group died every year.
What Can Trigger A Gout Attack
Several things can cause the crystals to shake loose into your joint cavity, triggering an attack. These include:
- a knock or injury to the joint
- an illness that may make you feverish
- having an operation
- having an unusually large meal, especially a fatty meal
- drinking too much alcohol
- dehydration
- starting urate lowering therapy, especially at a high dose, or not taking your treatment regularly each day.
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Am I At Risk Of Having Gout
Youre more likely to have a gout attack if you:
- are male
- have a family history of gout
- have elevated levels of uric acid in the blood
- drink too much alcohol
- eat a diet high in purines such as meat, sweetbreads, offal, shellfish, and fructose
- are overweight or obese
- use diuretics
- have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol these conditions can mean that your kidneys are less able to flush out the urates
- have kidney disease
The Role Of Uric Acid
Uric acid is produced when your body breaks down purines, which are substances naturally found in your body, as well as in protein-rich foods. At normal levels in your blood, uric acid is a powerful antioxidant and does not cause any damage. The body keeps uric acid at a set level by excreting it through the kidneys and in urine.
It is possible to have hyperuricemia and not develop gout. About two-thirds of people with elevated uric acid levels never have gout attacks. It is not known why some people do not react to abnormally high levels of uric acid.
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