Known Ways to Reduce Gout Attacks
Gout or sometimes called metabolic arthritis is a disease that manifests itself in the cartilages of joints, tendons, and tissues of the body. It is an extremely painful condition that sometimes causes immobility due to swelling and inflammation of the affected area. Gout attacks usually affect men starting at their thirties, and women in their post-menstrual stages in life. Currently, there is no cure for this disease but there are known treatments to help manage and prevent these attacks from occurring.
Attacks of gout happen when there is an excess supply of uric acid concentrated in the bloodstream. This buildup of uric crystals settles and forms in the joints, which causes them to swell. Redness of the area, and tenderness, and throbbing pain will then ensue. Most people will notice that these attacks happen at night or in cold weather and usually in the area of the big toe, although it can still affect other joints in the wrists, fingers, elbows, and knees.
Gout is hereditary and thus is suggested that people with a family history try to make changes in their lifestyle and diet to prevent such attacks from occurring if they have not happened yet. Chronic gout should not be taken lightly for if left attended, it can cause severe damage to the tissue at hand. Also, if medication or treatment were not administered, the frequency and severity of damage will increase over time.
The best way to combat this condition is really through prevention. It is necessary to take in a lot of water and abstain from alcohol, as well as avoid foods that are rich in purine. Foods that contain purine include red meat, such as beef, lamb, and pork, among the highest. Shellfish, mollusks, asparagus, mushrooms, legumes, and spinach must also be avoided. Spinach does not contain purine, but it does have oxalic acid that can deter the body from the apt elimination of uric acid from the system.
By keeping the kidney and liver healthy, you are promoting faster excretion of uric acid from the body through urination. The two ways to stop gout attacks from happening are the avoidance of foods rich in purine, and the speeding up of the kidney’s expulsion of uric acid and other toxins in the body.
Stress is also a known factor in occurrences of gout attacks, so try to find ways to alleviate yourself from this. Perhaps some exercises, such as walking or yoga, will benefit your mind as well as your body.
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